


Across the Realm

by Thymewrites



Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Blood and Violence, Eventual Romance, Heavy Angst, I'm Bad At Tagging, Idiots in Love, Missing in Action, Multi, Power Dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:27:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 29,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28136931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thymewrites/pseuds/Thymewrites
Summary: Josephine spent a year of her life in the Devildom as a human exchange student. But upon returning she quickly chose her life in the Devildom over her life in the human realm. Not all of the realm of demons is thrilled to have her transplant her life in the Devildom. She is surrounded by the 7 men who would do anything for her. What happens when they're put to the test and their limits are pushed to keep her alive?
Relationships: Asmodeus (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Reader, Barbatos & Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Barbatos/Main Character/Diavolo (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Beelzebub & Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Belphegor (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s), Diavolo (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s), Diavolo/Lucifer/Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Leviathan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s), Lucifer (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s), Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s), Satan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 42
Kudos: 28





	1. Intro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josephine spent a year of her life in the Devildom as a human exchange student. But upon returning she quickly chose her life in the Devildom over her life in the human realm. Not all of the realm of demons is thrilled to have her transplant her life in the Devildom. She is surrounded by the 7 men who would do anything for her. What happens when they're put to the test and their limits are pushed to keep her alive?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !Rated explicit for possible sex and violence!
> 
> Will update notes for trigger warnings as much as I can.  
> 3 Asterisks refers to end notes, possible reference to my other x-rated fics!
> 
> Enjoy<3

With burning eyes, he watched Lucifer, the avatar of pride, the sadistic and powerful demon, scoop up the human gently and take her from the room smiling down at her in his arms***. His anger was boiling, you could practically see the steam coming from his ears. He had watched this charade of doting on her far too long. How could these demons be fooled into caring after a human in such a way? She was a toy to be discarded after considerable use. Not a prize to cherish. He had heard the brothers were taking a liking to her, but he had expected a more aggressive liking. This display of affections was disturbing, and it was triggering him to almost blow his cover.

He couldn’t stop thinking about how long he had spent with his knees to the ground for this callous fool Diavolo, who even entertained and cared for the human almost as much as Lucifer. He was seething, hot, and clenching his fists. The room around him felt heavier than ever. The time he spent waiting for the true ruler of the Devildom was far too long, but he felt Diavolo digging his own grave with that human, and it as equally as furious as it was satisfying. Between his boss, and these fools everyone spoke of this human as if she was some treasure. What was she utterly worth? And why?

He knew deep down he was dispensable. His strength wasn’t top tier, and his powers were forgettable. But his conniving personality was the reason he was forced to embarrass himself by pretending to blend in with Diavolo’s sheep. It was sickening, but he could only act on orders, and his order was to just watch and record behaviors of the brothers and the fool prince. One day he would show them he would make history and his ideas were churning in his head. He would take down that fool for his boss, and that human would be his boss’s faithful slave.

The woman in front of him tried to capture his attention, teasing him, and whispering dirty things to him. His eyes snapped back to her and she was frightened for a moment looking at his deathly expression. He laughed a deep and dark laugh before taking his frustrations out on her, and he was in luck, she was here for just that kind of occasion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***- Using the setting from my previous work:
> 
> "MC with the sides" Chapter 1 "MC X Diavolo" - X rated fic


	2. Early bird gets the worm

The bed was so warm it was practically cuddling Josephine, begging her to stay. She shifted and let her eyes rest for another moment. She was feeling particularly drowsy this morning, but she knew it was simply that she didn’t want to get up. Human realm, devildom, even the celestial realm, Josephine would never be a morning person. She sat up after the snooze went off again, sighing heavily. She would have to rush to get dressed before Beel ate all the food. She looked at her phone seeing a text from Mammon.  
“Oi, wake up! Come to breakfast already.” 

She rolled out of bed, the air less warm than her bed and alerting her senses a bit. She quickly washed up, put her hair back in a long braid. She applied light make up smiling at herself in the mirror. She was surrounded by 7 brothers who already fawned over her, but the make-up still improved her confidence. After her shirt, skirt and jacket was on and looking fresh she walked briskly toward the dining hall.

She walked in to see Beel, Asmo, Mammon, and Levi eating quietly. Asmo smiled big at her, winking slightly, and welcoming her with a sweet melodic “Good morning.” Levi murmured a greeting while immersed in his phone. Beel mumbled and she sat down next to Mammon. Satan and Lucifer would be at RAD by now, the overachievers of the family.

“You need to wake up earlier, human.” Mammon snapped at Josephine, and she laughed.

“Imagine that.” she chuckled as she continued to eat my breakfast.

“Shut up Mammon, she’s smarter than you, you’re the one who should be in school earlier.” Belphie gave him a side eyed look and proceeded to sit next to Beel.

“Oi, you barely get out of bed you loser!” Mammon shouted across the table, then stood up with his plates and left the room.

Belphie laughed quietly and smiled at Josephine under his dark hair with frosted white tips. His violet eyes gleaming with a mischievous glint. His gaze lingered on her and seemed to get darker, she smiled back blushing and looked back down at the plate. He was an interesting demon, for someone so repulsed by humans, he grew fond of her the quickest. They had their issues to begin with, of course, but was able to move past them. Some minor issues popped up still; he was a bit more possessive than expected for the avatar of sloth. 

The brothers had all come together to ensure a smoother relationship with Josephine, agreeing that none of them were able to coerce her into committing to one of them, unless she initiated it herself. Of course, there were moments where they would slip, but they corrected themselves. She was practically committed to them all in different ways, and it was for the best. They all doted on her as if they were her boyfriend, and she made time specifically for each one to spend time with her alone, as well as spending time with them as a group. 

Most of the brothers respected her decisions, aside from Mammon and Belphie. Mammon would complain that she had to be crazy to choose all of them instead of just him. He was always poking fun at her about it, how she must be the new avatar of greed, and that her greed surpassed his. Josephine always laughed it off, knowing it was simply his manipulation tactics, and recognizing it was because he cared for her. In a silly way, it was sweet, and she let him rant about it as much as he pleased. And Belphie, a bit less aggressive with his words, would simply just beg her to stay in his room, or refuse to let her leave on the days he had energy. Even Levi wasn’t as bad as those two, mainly because he contained his envy in fear of losing Josephine’s attention and care.

With a full belly, Josephine left the house of Lamentation and headed towards RAD with Mammon. He was insistent he walked with her to school in the mornings, and rarely missed the chance to do so. They walked in silence or making silly jokes. His laughter was contagious, and Josephine reveled in the moments where he was lighthearted. They parted ways and headed to their own respective classes. Josephine was lost in thought walking into her lecture hall, reminiscing of the human world and how much she felt out of place there. She sighed happily and walked into her class, taking out her notebook and getting ready for the lecture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have questions for me you can always find me on tumblr as well! :)
> 
> Thyme-writes


	3. Study Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot building, la la la

After school Josephine headed to the RAD library. Her usual schedule was to meet Lucifer in the quiet study in the back of the library. He liked to look over her lecture notes and assist her with any questions. But mainly, for them both it was a place to study and get work done without any distractions. The two of them were diligent in focusing on their tasks and not disturbing the other, they occasionally stopped and took breaks chatting about their day.

Josephine really enjoyed the subjects she was able to learn in the devildom. She was always an art and history lover in the human world, so it fascinated her to be able to learn the history of a whole new world with fresh eyes. The history was complex and violent as to be expected. There was a lot of succession wars that ended with complete upheaval of the devildom, much of this was hundreds and thousands of years ago. It spoke of corners of the realm that were deemed unworthy of inhabitance due to the battles fought. Josephine couldn’t help but wonder about Diavolo and the sleeping king. There was no information here regarding it in the books, so where was that information kept?

“I can practically see the wheels turning in your head Jo, what is your question?” Lucifer said in a dull tone, without even looking at her.

“I was wondering about the books on Diavolo and the sleeping king, surely there must be record of the succession of the King, right?”

Lucifer sighed with a partial smile on his face, “Is your workload too light then? You want to assign yourself a research project?” He smiled broadly, meeting her eyes. She stared back at him blankly and he chuckled. “There are works being written and thoroughly combed, but no, there’s no official book on it. Here, the history books don’t release the history of a ruler until the reign has ended.”

“Oh, I see, that’s a bit strange, why exactly do they wait so long?” 

“For you it’s a long time, for us its not much. And it can be particularly dangerous, they’re very thorough and it can lead to complications for current rulers.” His eyebrow raised for a moment then relaxed. “Josephine if you have questions about Diavolo you may ask me.”

“Ah yes of course, I was just curious because I didn’t see anything of him or the sleeping king, no questions!” She could feel the words churning into a lie the second she spoke them; she had a million questions. He was right, she did have a heavy workload, so the best option was to ignore the meaningless curiosity for now.

He let his eyes rest on her a bit longer even though she had buried her nose back in her books. What had prompt her to wonder so much about the sleeping king and Diavolo? She sure was a curious human; certainly, with the scarcest amount of fear he’d seen among humans. His eyes wandered further across her body, from her slightly parted full lips down her chest and to the table where her fingers gripped a pen. She forced deep feelings of longing inside Lucifer and it put a strain on him like no other. For much of his demon lifespan, it had been hard to detect any loving emotions in him, and now he felt as if he was bursting. She had little knowledge of the extent of his affection, and it was even more of a strain on him to keep it that way. 

He was the one who initiated the vow to not try to coerce her into a relationship, and if anyone knew Lucifer well enough, they would know the rule was for himself more than any other. He wanted her all to himself, of course, but only on her terms if she wanted the same. The rules kept her safe from all their advances and jealousy but kept him from falling head over heals for her as well. Knowing she would rather choose them all, then choose one, meant that she didn’t want only him but still she was choosing him as well. That would be enough, he could be happy with anything she chose but at least he was being dealt a fair hand. She bit her lip deep in thought as his gaze still lingered on her and his heart raced.

He stood swiftly, needing to get away from her for a moment, muttering about getting some coffee, and he marched out of the room. She didn’t even look up to watch him storm off, angry with himself. She continued to study her notes, waiting for the coffee Lucifer would inevitably bring her as well as himself.  



	4. Xalran POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More made up demons with fun names
> 
> TW: abusive/non-con conversation

Blending into RAD was not a challenge, so far as he could tell most of these demons were mid-level in strength and very few were extraordinary, making Xalran blend in smoothly. He had made a few friends in his classes, trying to mirror their personalities to help him get by. One of them, Lyraez, was like minded with Xalran. He was tired of the human, and all the demons finding her extraordinary, but he particularly hated Solomon. Solomon had tricked him into making a pact and now he was the human’s toy to trifle with. Lyraez was the perfect demon to recruit but Xalran was hesitant, wanting to see him at his breaking point before speaking a word about the coming rebellion. He was sure that once he waited for the right moment, he could bring Lyraez in. 

He stood in the hallway chatting with a classmate when he heard her laugh, it was like needles on a chalk board. His head swung to see her walking with that loser Mammon. Her smile made his blood pressure spike, she should only smile when she was allowed to. A human enjoying the Devildom?! It should be unheard of; it should be impossible. She should be on guard and nervous, yet she walks the halls of RAD unconcerned and relaxed. She should only engage in sexual relationships when forced to, yet she can choose to be intimate with any of the 7 brothers at her discretion. She needed to be put in her place.

As far as Xalran could see though, she was never truly alone. She split her time between all 7 of the brothers and was almost always with one of them. One day he found her picking up food at Hell’s Kitchen, she appeared to be alone at first, but he quickly spotted Barbatos. The 7 brothers were not demons to engage with, but neither was the royal butler. He was one of the most dangerous demons, but he was incredible docile about the strength he possessed.

He watched them separate as he left her at the door to her lecture, he watched her relaxed face as she opened the door and waltzed inside the room. If she only knew what was coming, maybe she would just leave the devildom. A piece of Xalran pitied her for the plans he would have to execute, and he loathed feeling pity for such a callous human. She was a vital piece of the puzzle for his master, and it would take every ounce of her courage to stay alive through what she would be put through.

In the long run, her lineage would be the only reason the plans could carry out so easily. If she were just another human, any offspring would be hardly powerful enough to cross into the human world and back, but with her lineage her mixed offspring could possess not only the changeling ability but the demon form as well, and cross between worlds at the blink of an eye. Her offspring would be able to be anywhere, and everywhere at the same time. They would be powerful, just as powerful as the brothers and the simple-minded prince. But they would be able to rule in the human realm as well, undetected. In the future, his master could rule both realms, but he knew what he really wanted was to make the devildom more prosperous. He wanted more access to the human realm so he could drag down more humans, more currency, more resources, human gold, and gems. He wanted the border between the realms to thin, so he could have his way with anything he wanted.

He needed to come up with a way to get her alone, he was capable of carrying out the plan, and he had to prove he was worth more than just an errand boy. He would be at his master’s side throughout this plan, forcing him to want to keep him around as his right-hand man.

He turned back to the classmate in front of him discussing their lecture, “Do you chat more over coffee later?”


	5. Picking Flowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lil hint at my inspiration in the title, wonder if anyone will catch it
> 
> TW: roofie/drugging type of situation

Walking back to the house Josephine progressively got more and more silly. Starting with joking around at Lucifer's expense, then making jokes about the other boys. She then spouting information to him that was likely private and he shouldn’t know about. She was making him uneasy, but her laughter was infectious. He tried to stop her multiple times, but she continued to act as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

“You seem like you are overtired, maybe you need to take a nap before dinner?” Lucifer chuckled as she roped are arm around his and leaned her head on him.

“Good idea, lets take one together.” Josephine giggled.

“Jo, if I wasn’t with you all afternoon, I’d think you were drunk right now.” He laughed back looking at her smiling face, it was impossible to not enjoy her smile.

“Maybe we should drink!” She laughed as they approached the house. “I wonder if Mammon still has that nice wine that he stole from you.”

Lucifer growled under his breath, “I’m sure he sold it.” 

Josephine cackled and threw her head back; in no time she was out of breath from laughing so hard. “Oh, I bet you’re right.” She could barely force the words out between laughs.

Once they entered the house she made for the kitchen, he ordered her to not drink anything alcoholic and to eat something before taking a nap. He assumed she wouldn’t be drinking this early anyway and then made his way towards his room to finish up the rest of his work before dinner. Under her breath she was stating that’s not how the pact worked for humans, laughing at Lucifer, and grabbing some wine. Luckily, it was some less potent Devildom wine so she could drink without being too drunk for dinner. She poured herself a glass and sat at the table in the kitchen. She sat hoping for one of the brothers to wander in and chat with her, but she grew bored and didn’t want Lucifer to spot her with the glass, so she decided to head out back to the hedge garden.

She wandered around the garden heading further into the yard space, she wandered around calmly looking at the flower bushes. There were some particular flowers she was not supposed to touch, as they caused an array of different reactions to her sensitive system, but as for today she didn’t seem to care. She picked flowers slowly between sips of her wine, admiring the vibrant colors and smells coming from the flowers here. It was amazing they could grow so bright and beautiful in the conditions down here. 

“Josephine,” She heard a voice call her and she stood slowly, turning toward the sound of the voice. “There you are! I was looking for you after class today.” She studied the mans face, he was unfamiliar, but his smile was so handsome. His face was more rugged than the brothers, giving him a very masculine look, his hair was dirty brown with a slight wave, his eyes were chocolate brown, and his full bottom lip had a tiny scar on it.

“Hi, you found me.” She giggled. 

“I sure did,” he smiled at her flirtatiously. She gazed back at him warmly, and he felt a twist deep inside that he ignored. He reached his hand out to her and she looked down.

“What is this- “she reached down to his hand to drag a finger along the pollen covering his palm when her eyes rolled back, and her body went limp.

-Previously this Afternoon-

Just as Xalran was about to get up and leave, assuming maybe today wasn’t the day, Lucifer stormed in the café ordering his and her usual. She liked a Vanilla Latte, and he liked his coffee black, naturally. Xalran approached the counter just as Lucifer was turning to leave, swinging his arms, knocking his arm into Lucifer's right hand with the Latte, watching it topple to the floor. He spewed his apologies relentlessly, and Lucifer berated the man for swinging his arms like a child. Xalran was trying his best to not laugh, while apologizing and cleaning the coffee off the floor.

“Please let me get you another one, what was this drink?” Xalran asked Lucifer, knowing already it was a medium Vanilla Latte, with extra whipped cream. There was still a bit on whipped cream on Lucifer's shoes so he handed him napkins, asking him to sit a moment while he retrieved the latte for him. When he was being handed the drink, he stopped at the counter facing the café, grabbing napkins. He swiftly uncapped the potion in his pocket, looking all around to see heads down focused on their D.D.D. or their books, pouring the small amount of liquid on top of the whipped cream and grabbing a straw. He looked down at the drink and luckily the potion was clear, but you could see a slick coating on the whipped cream. It wasn’t enough for the normal eye to notice but it sent brief panic through him. This was only one attempt so if it didn’t work, he had other plans, but this particular potion was meant to remove all the human’s inhibitions, and it was the only one he had. Not to mention he only had the next 4 hours to figure out if it was working, so he had to follow the human to the best of his ability to find a moment alone with her.

He approached Lucifer, apologizing again, handing the latte to him. He grunted, ordering him to be more cautious of his surroundings. Xalran nodded, thanking Lucifer for his graciousness and Lucifer left the café heading toward the library.


	6. Dinner time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to aim for at least 3 chapters a week, maybe more :P

Satan was on cooking duty, which was always a treat, he collected all kinds of books, he didn’t stray away from recipe books as well. And in true Satan fashion, they were the best and most coveted books, so his dinner was something to look forward to. The food was smelling delicious when Lucifer set the table and took his seat. Beel was first to dinner, Mammon and Asmo following shortly after. They sat at their places and tucked into their meal without more than a few words to each other. Lucifer waited for a moment looking at the door but began eating. Levi came in with his headphones in and Belphie was last, as always. 

“Where is Josephine?” He said the moment he walked in the door. His brow was furrowed, and Lucifer had to keep himself from laughing. He was so obsessed with her it was comical sometimes.

“She was quite tired after coming back from studying, I would assume she will be up soon.” Lucifer replied coldly.

“Well maybe give the girl a break, Luci.” Belphie smiled a crooked smile at him as he sat next to Beel.

“She over works herself, Belphie, it’s not my doing.”

“Oh please, who do you think she is trying to impress? It’s not me, its not them.” He pointed at the rest of the brothers.

“Belphie, that’s enough.”

“All I’m saying is give her a day off for once.” 

~~~

Dinner had passed and Lucifer was irritated to find Josephine hadn’t managed to get up in time to make dinner, she tended to run a few minutes late but at this point the table was empty. All the brothers had finished eating and returned to their rooms. He finished wrapping up the plate and putting it in the fridge, determined to go check on her now that dinner was taken care of.

“Hey, who was drinking before dinner? When I started cooking, I noticed this bottle on the table, I left it out, but no one had wine with their meal.” Satan said inquisitively looking towards the bottle. 

“Ugh, no wonder she didn’t come down she was probably drunk.” Lucifer sighed. Satan looked at him confused, began to open his mouth when Lucifer cut him off. “She was so over tired today it was bizarre; she was rambling and made a joke about drinking, when I went to my room, she must have come down here for wine. Maybe she has already eaten too and went to bed by now.”

“That’s strange, she’s not the type to drink alone.” He placed his fist under his chin looking at Lucifer.

“She was strange the entire way back here from RAD. I’m not sure what’s going on with her but I’m assuming she’s not sleeping well.”

“Are you going to check on her?”

He wanted to tell Satan he wanted to storm into her room an hour ago, but instead, “Let’s not disturb her if she’s resting. She needs the rest.”

Satan grunted in agreement and went back to cleaning up the pots and pans. Lucifer reflected on Josephine’s behavior today, she was particularly strange, but he wasn’t sure it was a call to concern. She was a rather playful person when she was drinking. But she hadn’t been drinking. She was acting as if she didn’t have a care in the world today. He thought back to her asking to nap with him, and he thought maybe he should take her up on that now. It had been too long since he laid with her, he missed having her in his bed. He knew he could help her sleep better in his room, and he certainly would sleep better next to her.

He walked with a sure foot to her room, but when he reached her door, he stood frozen. He was being selfish, she was tired. But his hand instinctively raised to knock anyway. He uncurled his fist pressing his palm on the door and sighed. He would let her sleep tonight; he wouldn’t disturb her. But next time she offered to be in his bed he would surely say yes, and he would cater to her whims. His hand pulled away, but his fingers felt like dragging slowly off the door and with a conflicted heart he walked back to his room, picturing how beautiful she looked sleeping her bed.


	7. Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoyed bouncing between different perspectives in this one.

The morning came and with-it Mammon waited patiently at breakfast for Josephine to come to the table. He knew better than to wait for her to eat his food, so he ate and tried his best to be patient. Internally he was furious, he was screaming in his head about this human not respecting his time with her. Breakfast and walking to RAD was supposed to be their mornings, yet she was late every day. He already had to share her with the rest of his annoying brothers. He cherished the time he had her to himself, the time he got all her attention, and it felt like she took it lightly. Mammon could feel his face flush, knowing there was really nothing he could do, he sighed heavily and cleaned up his setting at the table.

Lucifer had made it clear to him if she did not wake up in time for breakfast, to let her sleep in. He was being overprotective as usual; Mammon could understand if she needed a day off. He wasn’t so callous that he would go to her room to her get up, well, he wouldn’t FORCE her to get up. His mood had significantly dropped and when Belphie walked into the room. He bumped into his shoulder, ignored Belphie’s chiding reaction, and stormed out of the house towards school.

~~~

Belphie was rolling his eyes as he sat down, looking around he noticed again Jo was no where to be found at the table. His blood was starting to boil, was everyone going to allow her to starve simply because she’s tired? Was he the only one who was going to worry about this human? Why was this making him so angry? His body felt hot and he wanted to flip the table, but he also knew it was a sincere overreaction. The feelings resisted his rationality still.

“Levi, did I miss Jo, or has she not come down?” Belphie practically growled, why was he so angry?

He pulled a headphone out, “Huh? Did you say something?” he was still glued to his phone and it only triggered Belphie’s frustration more.

BAM- Belphie slammed his fist on the table, Levi jumped and looked at him with an irritation in his eye. “I SAID did Jo come to breakfast?”

“Jeez Belphie, relax. No, Josephine hasn’t been down this morning.”

Belphie groaned and pushed his chair out loudly. He growled under his breath, “The avatar of sloth is the one putting in the effort. Brilliant.” His shoes echoed through the hall and his stomach rumbled, but he was willing to wait to eat breakfast in bed with Jo. In his head he could imagine her gratitude for him when he offers to spend the day with her and take care of her. When he reached her door, between the frustration and his anticipation to see her, he couldn’t resist barging into her room. 

“What the fuck?”

~~~

RING RING- Lucifer sighed to the sound of his phone, it was far too early for his brothers to need him. He walked over to the table picking up his phone.

“Yes Belphie?” He said in a dull tone, trying to contain his disdain for the interruption.

“Did Jo come to breakfast early?” He sounded stressed, or angry.

“No, I assumed she would be late today, did you not see her at breakfast then?” His heart skipped, was she sick?

“She’s not here Lucifer, I’m in her room. I haven’t seen her since yesterday morning.” His pitch got higher and higher as he began to shout, and the panic was rising in Lucifer too.

“I’m going to check her class right now.” Belphie began to shout back at him but Lucifer hung up. He was careful to breathe deep, to control himself before panic set in but his heart was racing, why would she not be in the house? She was so tired yesterday, she didn’t even come to dinner, so he didn’t expect her to be up in time for breakfast. He froze in the hallway where he had been walking, was she even in the house yesterday evening? The memory of him outside her door ran through his head, there was no indication of her even being in the room. At the time he didn’t think it was suspicious of course, but now every second of the day was racing through his mind under a magnifying lens. He ran to the class she should be in first period, looking through the window on the door, and her seat was clearly vacant.

NO NO NO he screamed internally

Panic was rising, he felt like he was choking for a moment before shaking himself. She was a smart human, she wasn’t easy to overpower, she was his – his train of thought halted before he could continue it. He grabbed his coat from his office and ran out of the school trying to combat the dread creeping into him.


	8. Family Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another cliffhanger to end on for now, will update more next week (or sooner)

Mammon burst into the study where almost all the brothers had gathered, the only one missing was Satan. Looking around it was clear to see he wasn’t the only one with tears in his eyes. Lucifer looked like shit, Asmo was practically wailing about his beautiful human. Levi was fighting tears, and Belphie was pacing. Of course, today, of all days, Mammon skipped RAD to play cards and his phone had been on silent when the text came in. It was well past lunchtime, and he was hours late, internally he was so furious with himself for that too.

“Nice of you to join us Mammon.” Belphie sneered at him before rounding his circuit of stressed-out pacing in the study.

“What in the Devildom is going on?!” He looked at the table, Josephine’s phone was next to a wine glass. His eyes bulged at the sight of her phone and looked to Lucifer. “Lucifer, what is this? Also, where is Satan??”

“Belphie found her cell phone and wine glass by the rose bushes.” He sighed and there was an audible shake to his voice, Mammon couldn’t tell if it was anger or fear. “She was behaving very erratically yesterday when we got back from studying. She mentioned a joke about drinking, so my only scenario here is she got a glass of wine and wandered outside, and someone grabbed her.” He ran his gloved fingers through his hair. “Satan is in his room, likely breaking things.”

~~~

Satan could feel his eyes burning, but every time a tear formed he yanked down another shelf of books. The wrath radiating out of him was unstoppable. HOW? How could someone or something be so bold as to grab her, a human, living with THEM. He knew it had to be a demon, a creature of the Devildom would have left blood behind, even a little. Deep down, Satan knew, this was coordinated. Something felt so wrong, Lucifer had said repeatedly how weird Jo was acting yesterday, that couldn’t be a coincidence? How did this happen?

“DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO I AM?” His tail was flinging things of the tables he walked by and his fists were bloody from punching and hitting objects harder than his skin. He was screaming as loud as he could with his head thrown back. He could feel his heart pounding out of his chest.

He would kill whoever did this, he vowed now to kill who ever was responsible for her disappearance. And they better hope she was healthy and well taken care.

He roared a desperate angry roar, and picked up his desk, throwing it across the room into a bookshelf. The crash was not satisfying anymore. The feeling of having control of anything was gone, his whole heart was gone.

“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU.”

~~~

“Is there any trace of her? Or whoever got her? Maybe she didn’t get far!” He was shouting at Lucifer, who took his incessant babbling too calmly. “I’m calling the witches, they’ll find her!” Mammon was ready to throw a temper tantrum.

“Mammon,” For once, the way he said Mammon’s name, sounded deflated. There wasn’t a stitch of irritation or anger. It was dull, gray, and lifeless. “I called Diavolo.”

“And?! What does that mean?” He’s swallowed hard, he could feel despair filling him, but he wasn’t sure why.

“Barbatos checked the timelines to find her, but there was some sort of block, whether it be a time or magic block.” His eyes were locked with Mammon’s, they were deep red and shining like a man desperate to contain his emotions. “Barbatos said she doesn’t exist in ANY timeline here anymore.”


	9. House of the Rebels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is purely OC, hope y'all like it.

The halls of the house of rebels were quiet and dark but the warm study roared with laughter. The foundation and exterior of the house looking decrepit and dirty, with all the windows boarded up you’d never guess the house held the majority of the rebel force within it. The interior was filled with old relics found scattered across the area of the war thousands of years ago. For the majority of the realm this place was a wasteland, but for the exiled it was home. The house of rebels being the anchor for them all. They had recovered many things in the abandoned ruins, and stored many things within the old, abandoned palace. Among the town more homes and stores were hidden within walls of desolate buildings overgrown with Devildom ivy. The existence of this place was solely based on the work of those living in the house of the rebels.

The six demons in the center of the study were cheering and shouting, excitement filling the room to the brim. Xalran stood to the side of the old, gilded throne. He stood with his back stiff, smiling proudly. It was his day; he knew he could prove his worth eventually and his day had come. The circle of demons who served Bathym directly were brought into the room after Xalran secured the human in his master’s quarters downstairs. Upon hearing his they burst into cheering for him, which had gone on for quite some time now. Xalran contained his excitement but still he digested every cheer he had longed for.

His master sat thoughtfully on the seat beside him. His long black hair with green tips pulled back, with two braids hanging from the hair tie. Emerald eyes blazed as thoughts raced through his mind. He was torn between his patience wearing thin of this display before him, and his anticipation to move forward with his plans.

“Has she woken yet Xalran?” Bathym said quietly to his newly appointed assistant.

“No sir, she is still fast asleep.” He said stiffly.

“Send in Meyrd while she is still sleeping. She shouldn’t suffer too much initially, we should execute this while she’s asleep, we do need her compliance still.”

“Sir, Meyrd is sure to make her suffer.”

“He is the strongest incubus we have, with the most important powers. We don’t have a choice.” He sighed. “Accompany him Xalran, stay by the door and listen in. Do not let him go too far.”

“Yes sir.” 

He walked swiftly through the door and Bathym sighed heavily. The demons in the room had brought out wine and food. Bathym was beginning to grow tired of their celebration, this was only step one and there was a lot of challenges to come. These fools before him saw the day as a win, but today was the mark of the war.

“Take this party to the hall, enjoy yourselves but I have work to do.” 

He stood and they scurried out the door to the hall, with the flick of his wrist the door slammed behind him and he walked to the bookshelf. He felt he was prone to heavy sighing, he expected to be more enthusiastic at this stage, but his anxiety was silently raising. Now that she was captured, the next stage was impregnating her immediately. There was simply no time to wait. Once she was pregnant, they could assess if the hybrid changeling theory were correct, he was 95% sure it was, but they needed to run tests on her once she was with child. They would be the link between realms, and if they ended up as powerful as he expected they could help restore order once he took over. He could finally put those washed-up angel demons in their place, where they belonged. They didn’t belong in a position of status, royalty, never, they belong as pawns of the realm for the hospitality of allowing those fallen angels exist here.

But still, the window of time before the brothers found she was missing was exceedingly small, meaning his entire fortress was in grave danger at any moment. They belonged as pawns, but he would never ignore their strength. Not to mention, he would have to hold them off long enough for her to be with child. It was a bold play, and they were not toys to play with, they would come with full power and rage. He sat before the books, trying to recall his plans for fortifying the house of rebels. He summoned his witches through a spell, and they appeared before him instantly.

“Yes, my sweet king?” The oldest one said, the younger scowling at him deeply.

“She is here, ready your stones of protection and enforce the perimeter immediately. Bring me the potions for humans, anything you’ve got. I have a feeling I will need them all.”

“Yes sir.” They both said, in vastly different tones. He waved his hand and they vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or find me on Tumblr if you have any thoughts you'd like to share
> 
> Tumblr: Thyme-writes


	10. TW: Waking up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Rape, Unconscious rape, Non-con, not explicit but strongly depicted non con. Please do not read this chapter if uncomfortable with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried to keep this short to avoid too much triggering here!

Meyrd stalked through the halls humming as Xalran followed a few paces behind him. He wore a face of pure delight, and Xalran wore a face of irritation. When he approached Meyrd, he spoke quietly to not catch the attention of all the other incubi in the room, but the cocky incubus was not one for discretion. He stood proudly alerting the room that he was the one chosen for creating the hybrid changelings. The room scowled and shouted at him as he stood, his ego inflated, and walked out of the room. He was warned in the hall to control himself, that Bathym was insistent he wanted her to still be asleep through it. But he laughed to himself, he was bound to wake her, and his task was not to help her sleep, his task was to impregnate her. As far as he was concerned that was the mission, and it would happen at any cost. The warning slipped right through his head and he imagined all the ways he could make her scream.

When they entered the room, it was clear she had not moved from where Xalran put her. Her hands and legs were bound, and they connected to each other. The bindings were attached to a chain that was hooked into a hoop screwed to the wall. She was in her RAD uniform still, a button up short sleeved shirt with the time stone around her neck, and a plaid skirt. Her shoes had been lost in the process and her hair was a mess of black curls spilling from the hair tie that had been pulling them back. Xalran nodded to Meyrd, giving him a stern look and left the room standing by the door.

Meyrd could feel his mouth salivate looking at her. Not only was she the most coveted human among the incubi at the house of rebels, but she was clearly coveted by all those of the house of lamentation. If she thought they were a handful just wait until she took him. He leaned down to smell her, she smelled faintly like her floral perfume mixed with her human sweat. He shuttered and started unbuttoning her shirt, running his hands over her abdomen. His hands slid back up to her bra moving it to the side and reveling in her pale skin exposed for him.

The heat in him was rising and his hands got more and more aggressive, he started grabbing at her and leaned in to bite at her. She was sleeping hard because of the pollen she had inhaled but his bites were more and more intense, forcing subconscious whines from the human as he spun out of control. His hands had traveled under her skirt. He was growling as he pushed her body to lay sideways on the ground and he took her, his body was a bundle of fury and his teeth sunk into her hard on the crook of her neck. He could see her eyes begin to flutter, her neck bleeding, and he pinned himself down on her with all his weight as her eyes opened slowly.

Xalran heard the scream, he knew he should step in, but yet he didn’t intervene. There was no chance he could overpower Meyrd, especially not in the state he was in now. So, he let her scream, and let her realize the true horror of being in the Devildom.


	11. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is so0o0o angsty and another cliff hanger, love you all for reading but I'm a fckin tease and I love cliff hangers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could help but add a few more chapters in this week, this whole story is living and unfolding in my brain non-stop.

His plush bed was no longer a safe haven, it was clear he couldn’t sleep and maybe never would sleep quite right again until she was safe. To think he caused this same pain for the others even if it was just for a moment, still riddled him with shame and anxiety. There had to be something he could do, beside just staring at the ceiling. Lucifer locked himself in his room, only allowing Diavolo and Barbatos in, to further discuss what to do. Mammon was gone, finding the witches he knew could not help him. He was already in such a debt to them it was shocking he would choose to look for more problems. Levi was in contact with the navy, but he knew it was unlikely that would help. Asmo was checking the seedy clubs and contacts he had within the nightlife industry. He expected a human would be trafficked through those types of profiles, and the group all hesitated to agree, not because he was wrong, but they were all scared to admit he may be right. Satan was not to be disturbed, naturally, until he came out of his room himself. It had been ages since Satan went on a fury bender but there wasn’t a single demon that wanted to interfere. Beel was asking to make signs, to hang in stores and restaurants, but he was denied. They didn’t want the news to get out until they had time to plan what they would release to the public. If the Devildom found out she was missing, she was likely to be hunted not rescued. It could turn into open season on her if demons found out she was without the protection of the brothers and Diavolo himself.

He just wanted to sleep, he wanted to dream of her in his bed. The feeling of being wide awake when he was so desperate for sleep was new and frustrating. He wondered if she was sleeping, if she was dreaming where she was, maybe he was in her- he sat up stiff. He could enter her dreams! It was only possible for him to enter someone’s dreams if they were sleeping near him or if he had an emotional bond with them. With her, their bond was strong, their intimate relationship was powerful enough, and not to mention the pact! If she were asleep, there was no way it wouldn’t work! He chanted the spell, gaining the attention of his silent (but also awake) brother in the bed next to him. 

“I’m going to find her Beel.” Belphie said quietly after finishing the spell, laying back down and closing his eyes.

Beel knew what he was doing the second he laid back down. He jumped from him bed to sit next to Belphie’s head, putting his hand gently on his head. Looking down at his twin brother he smiled, no one could convince Beel that Belphie was a bad guy. He would do anything for those he loved, even if it were extreme, and it normally was. The demon was full of love, it just came out a little twisted at times.

“You can do this Belphie, please.” He whispered, knowing Belphie was fast asleep and couldn’t hear him by now.

Belphie was in a dark room, the floor was painfully cold, it felt like dry ice on his feet. He hissed; she must be freezing. The temperature adjusted to his desire; he was partially in control of the dream as well as Jo now, though not much was changing upon his appearance. He looked around and was surprised to not be able to see her anywhere. He was clearly in a room, he could make out the faded tan color of the walls, the cement floors, there was a doorway in the corner, but it felt like he was staring through glass. Everything was warped and muddled in his vision and trying to look for details made his head hurt. She must be drugged, or drunk. The inebriation also affected the dream world, where he was, inside her head.

He walked toward the doorway when he heard a quiet whimper, he spun on his heels back to the room and spotted her in the corner. She was a blur in the darkest corner of the room. He ran to her and shook her by her arms gently. She slowly came into view; she was dirty, and her hair was strewn everywhere. Her eyes were red, and her pupils were colossal. He waited a moment for her eyes to focus but she started to close them again. He brushed her hair from her face.

“Jo, please look at me.” He cried.

“Belphie?” She slurred; she was drugged heavily. She looked up at him, her eyes were bouncing in her head, but she could see him now.

“Where are you??? Please can you tell me anything?” He cupped her face; her eyes were rolling back, and she tried to hold his arm but her fingers slid off him.

“I don’t know, I think I’ve been asleep all day.” She whined.

“Who brought you here, Jo?”

“He was handsome, he had a scar on his lip, he said he was looking for me after class.”

“He was from RAD?!”

“I don’t know Belphie.” Her eyes shot open, still glazed, but like she was in shock. She whimpered in pain. “Ouch, something hurts.” Her face grew heavy in his hands and tears welled up in her eyes. He looked to see bite marks forming across her skin and he wanted to scream.

“Wait Jo, please hold on to your sleep. Please don’t wake up. Describe his face!”

Horror washed across her face and she screamed, vanishing from his hands, and he sunk deep into his bed as the dream disappeared. Tears were streaming down his face and Beel handed him a notebook and pen with a concerned face. Belphie sat up and wrote down every single thing he saw, everything she said as he spotted the paper with his tears.

~~~

Bathym surrounded himself by herbs, stones, and books at his desk as the fire behind his throne roared. With the popping sounds of the fire and the stillness of the room he prepared the plan for when the house was found, as it would be found eventually. There were safe houses littered in the area that he could stash things at, dungeons covered by rubble from the war that were hidden well to keep the human. He had plenty of options, but it was like a game of chess to decide where to move first, so your back wasn’t against a wall. He was not someone to be trifled with, this wasn’t a last-ditch effort, this was years of preparing coming to a head with the blessing of them bringing in that stupid human.

Time wasn’t on his side anymore; it was no longer in his control. The plan was in motion and it was time to take down Diavolo. The runes, the enchanted stones, the protection wards, they were all buying him truly little time. If anything, they were only a nuisance to his adversaries, not a trap or a safe bet. Plus, it was only a matter of time before the stone she wore around her neck would run out, and he knew he had his work cut out for him enchanting stones for the remainder of his night. 

He knew Barbatos was smart enough to recognize the timeline block he created specifically for his powers, and it was simply a matter of time before he realized it was his own brother behind the kidnapping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More updates next week, after the holidays most likely! Maybe sooner
> 
> Tumblr: Thyme-writes


	12. Purgatory assisting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ** TW: Trigger warning, mention of rape **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bring in our favorite shady sorcerer, 
> 
> mention of rape in this chapter, not explicit!
> 
> I really planned to update once a week, but its only been 4 days now and I just can't stop writing. I have more chapters done but I'm sticking with 3/4 at a time.
> 
> I'd like to thank everyone as well for the comments and feedback, I appreciate anyone reading and reacting. This has been so much fun for me to write so even if just 1 person enjoys it as well I'm thoroughly satisfied.

Solomon was up extremely early, lost deep in thought, delving into his spell books when there was a frantic knocking at his door. He groaned, approaching the door, and whipping it open to give the person on the other side a piece of his mind when he saw a disheveled Simeon, red faced and breathing erratically.

“Simeon?” He said with a concerned tone.

“Josephine has been abducted, Solomon!” He shouted. “She is being held with a multitude of magic blocks to keep us from finding her. We need your help.”

“Where is Lucifer?” He could feel his blood boil, while he may not have the relationship the brothers had with her, she was someone he did care about. He knew immediately whoever took her had been planning this, he could feel it. Magic blocks and traps, this was could not be a low-level demon looking for a human to torture. Unease was growing in him as he headed to the house of lamentation.

He entered Lucifer’s study and realized the severity for the demons of this house who were infatuated with Josephine. Lucifer looked like a ghost, his skin was extremely pale, and there were bags under his eyes that Solomon had never seen before. His hair was lifeless against his face, and his RAD uniform looked like he’d run a marathon in it with the number of wrinkles and bunching of fabric. Diavolo was by his side, looking quite composed aside from his eyes, where they shone bright keeping the tears back. Barbatos’ cool composure was stripped; he was visibly angry, and his jacket was nowhere in sight.

Solomon had brought his spell books and placed them hard on Lucifer's desk. “Tell me everything.”

“Solomon, tell me you can break a spell for magic blocks? This is ridiculous.” Barbatos stood waving his arms around as he spoke. It was a shocking scene, watching him so out of control.

“I’ve done it before, but it depends on the level of the sorcerer creating the block.” He looked back to Lucifer.

“Jo was taken from our grounds; she was by the rose bushes. We believe she may have been under a spell earlier in the day and then she was drugged when she was picked up, we found small traces of pollen from a flower mildly toxic to humans in the grass where her phone was found. Belphie was able to enter her dream.” Lucifer grimaced hard, grinding his teeth momentarily, then continued. “She was heavily drugged, stating the person who took her knew her from RAD, she noted he had a small scar on his lip. Her dreams are now shielded, and they’ve created a timeline block so Barbatos is unable to find her in any timeline. They seem to know his powers well, it’s a strong block.”

“So, they’ve done their homework, and I’d guess they expect me to help so I’m sure they’ve got more blocks for me to find. Let me think.” Solomon turned to his let his brain run circles, trying to decipher in his head what other blocks he may encounter. A timeline block was created specifically for Barbatos, he would alter the timeline in an emergency as he’d done before. For someone to know that and create a block for her was impressive and dangerous. He walked out of the room murmuring that he would be back and went to Josephine’s room. He spoke incantations, reaching out to her clothes to try to find any trace of her. His search bounced back to him like a boomerang. Yes, they certainly knew he would start looking too, it was easy to block that search but he wanted to see the strength of the blocks, and they were not only strong, but complex.

He walked back into the study and Diavolo was searching through photos of the students at RAD. Barbatos was looking through one of Solomon's spell books. Solomon sat with another book, specifically about shields and blocks. For some reason, these blocks felt different then the majority of the ones he’d created and broken. He couldn’t quite put his finger on how it was made.

“When you try to find her in a timeline, does it reverb back to you, Barbatos?”

“Yes! Exactly, it feels like my powers are turned on me when I delve into her timelines.”

“Hm. That’s odd isn’t it?” Solomon pondered. “How did they know to make such a strong block for timelines? There is an array of blocks that can be placed in a time setting, pause, rewind, specific times, but to remove something from all timelines with a magical block? This isn’t something I know how to do.”

Lucifer looked up quickly. “Are you telling me this is a block you’ve never seen?” His voice sounded low and angry. “Are we facing someone who is creating their own spells and blocks?”

“It appears that way, there’s something off about this block, the spell I used should have simply dissipated, instead it’s bouncing back. I’m not sure how that’s even possible.” Solomon sighed. “Barbatos, from now on we should shield ourselves when we try anything. If they attach a curse to these blocks, we could be in serious danger since our spells seem to come back to us.”

Barbatos eyes widened.

“That’s what I would do if my blocks reverbed like that. Do me a favor and try to look through timelines for someone else.” His irritation was spiking if he had known sooner. He could have altered the dream to be able to break through the complications with her being drugged. In fact, he could have tried to remove the magic blocks from within her dream. His teeth were grinding now too. This was frustrating.

Barbatos stood there with his eyes closed, his glow appeared dull and before it could grow it disappeared. His eyes opened, radiating anger, and within a second he was in his demon form. His eyes made contact with Solomon’s, who nodded, knowingly. He roared and stormed out of the room his tail whipping behind him. Diavolo sighed heavily, Lucifer shook his head putting his hands in his hair.

“So, this seems to be a bigger problem. They knew how we would react, and they are targeting Barbatos. They could have killed him, instead they’re teasing him. What do they need with her? They’ve gone to great lengths to ensure we can’t get her back with magic.”

“Belphie mentioned she was likely being raped when she started to wake up from the dream, we think they’re trying to breed with her.” Diavolo said as Lucifer hung his head.

“Oh,” Solomon froze. “You know, her offspring here would not be like the normal changelings. With her angelic heritage.” He spoke quietly and Diavolo nodded. His mouth was dry, there was never any angel blood in a changeling, having blood of the 3 realms in one creature could be mean devastating powers. “I’m going to study how to break blocks and shields, for now though, I’d like to speak with Belphie. I would like to access his memory and see if I can find any information on where she was.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow my tumblr if you want to stay updated when I post chapters <3
> 
> Thyme-writes


	13. Revisiting the dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ** TW: light mention of rape **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another TW, sorry for anyone who's skipping due to these triggers, it will come up fairly often. I will continue to tag any trigger warning needed.
> 
> Just, again poor Belphie, I feel like I'm torturing him but tbh he seems like he has the least control of his emotions of them all anyway, so it lines up

Solomon entered the twin’s room quietly, not wanting to wake Beel as it was far too early to be up. He looked over as he walked in and saw both of them sitting on Belphie’s bed, wide awake. Beel was sitting with Belphie’s head in his lap, he looked gaunt and exhausted. Belphie looked awful. His eyes were bloodshot, and around his eyes were practically blood red from crying. He looked up at Solomon and for a moment he didn’t look like a demon, he looked like a puppy. The twinge in Solomon's heart was ignored quickly, he couldn’t allow himself to be emotional. His magic was too important, these next steps were too important.

“I need to see the memory of you entering her dream, Belphegor. I’m sorry you’ll have to see it again, but it’s important.”

He nodded and sat up, Solomon sat next to him on the bed, speaking the incantations and touched Belphie’s hand, both of them closing their eyes transported to the dream. They stood watching Belphie search the room, the blur clearing only slightly when he found her in the corner. Belphie was too concerned with Josephine to realize the details of the room cleared up when she was beginning to see him. The room had old paintings; he took note of each one. There was a trunk that looked like it had been made in the 17th century, and it was not in good shape. The one window in the room near the door was boarded up on the outside, interesting. Any abandoned building would have boarded windows, but these paintings were beautiful, and it appeared some of the interior walls were new.

He looked over to Belphie, who was watching himself crouched over Josephine, she looked so vulnerable and out of it. He sighed as he walked over to where she was in the memory. Belphie stood paces away from where he was in the memory and started to look around gasping. 

“I didn’t realize how clear the room got when she was talking.” His tone was frustrated.

“You were trying your best Belphie, it’s impossible to notice everything.” Solomon watched as she winced in pain and he could feel a knot form in his chest. He was telling himself to control himself when he spotted her necklace. That was not a normal necklace. Solomon snapped his fingers and the memory of them talking stopped, they froze in place and he got right next to her, crouching to look closer at the gem inside the metal casing. Unfortunately, he knew he couldn’t touch the memory, if he did it was possible that he would wipe the memory from Belphie’s head. But he couldn’t see clearly through the casing to access what it was. He was fairly confident the stone or gem, was not at all from the Devildom.

He snapped to un-pause the memory, and she started to complain about pain, he stood quickly watching the marks appear on her. The memory of Belphie before her begging her to stay asleep. He tried to back up quickly, but he was too close to her, and he watched her face as she screamed. He gulped hard trying to dissolve the lump in his throat as he opened his eyes back in Belphie’s room. He turned away from the twins, trying to contain his emotions. Taking a deep breath, he stood, brushing his clothes slightly.

“Well, she’s in an abandoned house somewhere. The windows were boarded.” He was rambling, but as he finished his sentence, he regained his composure.

“That doesn’t narrow it down, Solomon.” Beel said dryly.

“No, it doesn’t, but there were more details we’ve got might help. I’m so sorry Belphie, that was awful to see, and then to see twice…” He put his hand on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

He nodded, then laid back on Beel’s lap. Solomon walked out of the room with a heavy heart. He should have wiped the memory, but there was a chance he would need it again. He hoped by the time they found her he didn’t destroy Belphie mentally.


	14. Ferocity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood
> 
> Haven't gotten to hear Jo's side in quite a few chapters

Josephine sat on the cold floor shaking, she felt the blood dripping from her neck and the smell of iron was strong in her nose. As if to taunt her further. She felt nauseous, tired, her neck stung and the image of him over her was burning in her brain. The man with the scarred lip came in right after the incident and he slapped the other demon’s head. He shouted at him sending him to their master’s study. The demon laughed and sauntered out of the room. He came over to her with a half convincing concerned face, but she pulled back away from him, he was the reason she was here, she knew that for sure. He untied her hands, keeping her feet bound and tied to the wall still, and left her to tremble alone.

Not long after he left, a woman entered the room, she was very clearly a witch and she smiled broad as she saw her in the corner. She approached her just out of reach and spoke an incantation. When she was done, she dropped a slight curtsey and left the room as well. Josephine was confused, but ultimately not surprised. Witches like to use formality in a facetious manner. 

Outside the door Josephine heard her speaking with the demon. “Someone entered her dream; I’ve shielded her mind now. We must be vigilant.”

She thought back to when she was asleep, she knew it wasn’t a dream, Belphie was really there. She could recollect that she hadn’t given him enough information. She wanted to fall back asleep to see him again, but she knew she had missed her one and only shot at the brothers learning of her where abouts. Still, she studied the room, noting the cracks in the walls, the new dry wall, the boarded windows. Pulling on her feet she tested the length of the rope, and how strong the knots were. There was a trunk in the corner of the room, a few lamps on the walls between paintings, and an old Persian looking rug. She looked back to study the ring on the wall the rope was tied to, it was clear this had been used plenty of times. It was likely to bind someone who has been punished, and the room was emptied of other contents when it was installed. She wondered how many rooms were in the house, and how high up she was. 

A man stepped in the room quietly, had she not been looking toward the door she probably would not have heard him. He was tall and slim, his shoulders wider than his waist, he was wearing gray cargo pants that sat low on his hips and a tight black hoodie. His hair was pulled back and a braid of long black hair with emerald green tips sat on each shoulder. He was pale and his eyes were bright green like his hair. His slender face came to a rounded point at his chin. For some reason, he looked familiar to her and she hated herself for not understanding why. He was carrying a tray with food and drinks as he approached her slowly. It was as if she was the monster the way he eyed her.

“Josephine, I’m Bathym.” He spoke softly, but proper, articulating each sound of the words. “I’m very sorry for what you’ve experienced.” He crouched before her placing the tray on the floor. “It’s very important you eat and drink everything on this tray, if you do, I will come back in about an hour to clean your wounds.”

She looked him in the eye and sent the tray flying through the room. There was a grin that almost formed on his face, but he adjusted and pretended to look solemn.

“You were only unbound so you could eat, if you had behaved, we would let you keep your hands free, but I see that’s not an option. Not yet.” As his sentence finished the man with the scarred lip walked back into the room with more rope, she wanted to pull her hands back, but she smiled, looking at Bathym, and put her hands before the other demon for him to bind her hands together again. Bathym let out a quiet chuckle. “I appreciate your ferocity, while it seems like I’m punishing you for it currently, I hope you know I admire you right now.” He stood, collecting the plates and cutlery, she spotted a plastic knife that he picked up and she was cursing herself. They were going to give her a knife?! He left what looked like stew, bread, and some sort of juice covering the floor and headed towards the door.

He stopped at the door frame, “Outside your door is Xalran, please let him know when you’re ready to eat.” The smell wafted through the room and she knew she was hungry. She turned her head away from him and he left the room as quietly as he came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: Thyme-writes


	15. Coffee with Bathym

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Talks about sexual assault
> 
> More Jo perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More OC in this chapter, its not cannon of course so don't hate me if it goes against cannon. (I did some research I think its okay but you can be the judge)
> 
> Got a bit more background on Bathym and of course more tricks.

Three days had passed before Josephine had finally eaten, she learned it was necessary to eat after realized Xalran would be giving her predator access to her room late each night. He was warned to take care, to be gentle. It was possible, but unlikely that Xalran may be hiding it from Bathym that he was in her room every night, so he was warned against everything he did the first time. After the second night between the blood loss, the lack of eating, the stress in her body, it came to a head and she blacked out. She had no idea what had happened between the time she blacked out and when she woke but there was food and multiple cups of water waiting for her that morning. Bathym no longer visited her room, not since the first time, and she was left with Xalran. He no longer pretended to have concern, he would drop her food before her, small portions twice a day. His personal attitude for her was “eat or not, I don’t care if you survive” and while he never said this out loud, it was explicitly clear on his face.

She was gauging the time of day by the noises in the house. It was a small old palace, likely in bad shape. She could hear floorboards that sounded like they were at least 6 rooms away from her. After listening intently, she also deduced she was on the first floor, she rarely heard noise under her, which she assumed to be a cellar as it was hard to hear anything down there. If she were to walk around, she could find her way to the stairs to ascend to the second floor. They made the most noise, and so did the demons walking around the house, so she could track the sounds of the old house and the voices of the inhabitants across the place.

It had now been 5 days since she woke in the room, not only was her spirit fading but her faith that she would be found was dramatically fading now. She was cooperating as much as she could to avoid any repercussions, she assumed she would be punished by her nighttime visitor and that was traumatic enough to endure, she couldn’t bear any worse than what she was experiencing. She was studying the grain in the wood floor, not that she ever cared before, but she thought she could identify the wood as being Hell Birch. Feeling eyes on her she looked up, it wasn’t late enough for the incubus visitor, but she was surprised to see Bathym with two cups in his hands. For some reason she felt relief wash over her to see his face. She wanted to scream at the feeling.

“Hi there, Jo.” He smiled warmly at her.

“Don’t call me that.” She snapped back, that was what her boys called her, not this man. It made her heart sink, where were they?

“Ah I’m sorry.” He reached to touch her hand and she pulled back. “Yes well, I wanted to bring you this.” He gestured one of the cups of coffee, it smelled heavenly.

She tried to reach with her tied hands, and he put the coffees down, reaching out to untie her hands. She watched him warily. His face was fixed on the knot and she studied his features, there was something so familiar about him, so strong that she almost felt safe with him. Upon the rope being removed he handed her the coffee. She immediately took a sip, feeling the warmth down her throat rivalling the chill her body had taken on semi-permanently without having any blankets. He sat back with the other cup sipping slow, studying her as she glared at him over her cup.

“I know this has been overwhelming, so I’m here to explain a bit.” He spoke softly, it sounded melodic, had she noticed that before or was she just noticing it now? A feeling of compassion washed over her, and she wanted nothing more than to hear him out. She nodded her head enthusiastically, stopping only when she realized she was nodding enthusiastically for a man who held her captive.

“So, you are currently in the house of the rebels. We are the group of demons exiled from the Devildom; we reside in one of the many locations abandoned after the war thousands of years ago. We fought for our realm, we sacrificed everything alongside every other demon involved. We refused to accept the fallen angels to outrank us, the brothers you reside with. And for our so called “treachery” we were banished. For a long time, it was pure anger, and among us many fights broke out, many people caved and went back to beg for Diavolo’s acceptance. But along the way, many more had been exiled. What started as a group of 20 has grown much larger, even some new demons have been born here. We are struggling, have you ever had to live as someone did thousands of years ago? We have no technology, we had to rework the plumbing system out here, we only have homes since we spent time renovating the abandoned and half destroyed ones. Our clothes are handmade, our supplies are grown, foraged, etcetera. You get the drift.” She nodded again, enthralled in what Bathym was saying. “We tried a long time ago to set up trade with the rest of the devildom, you see we’d gotten good at foraging and we really don’t want to live like cockroaches here. We were warned the next time we approached; we would be killed on the spot. You must understand me, I know you feel conflicted right now, and you probably feel used. Our position was impossible before, but once you came it changed. We finally had something we could use against the Prince. I will not let my people suffer any longer here, just because we are demons does not mean we should be treated as the scum Diavolo thinks we are. We don’t plan to be steamrolled anymore, we want to fix the state of the Devildom as it is, and I want to give my people a better life.”

She was frustrated with herself for seeing where he was coming from, she couldn’t imagine a ruler in the human realm banishing people for that. But this was not the human realm. His eyes blazed with passion as he looked at her. She listened intently, wondering if there was any way she could help other than being the captive. She wanted to shake the thoughts from her head, the demons under his control were awful, but he was not. He had an aura of tranquility to him that felt so peaceful. For someone planning to practically overthrow the prince, he was awfully calm and mild mannered.

He placed his hand on hers and she could feel her body beginning to get drowsy, he smiled kindly at her.

“I will not let you die here, you have my word, but I need you to aide me in fixing and uplifting this side of the realm.” 

Her eyes were threatening to close when it hit her, the truth between the lines he spoke. She wasn’t being used as JUST a bartering chip against Diavolo, she understood why the visitor was allowed in her room every night. She began to laugh hysterically, but the energy it took to laugh forced her eyes shut and her body went limp, crashing to the floor on her side.

~~~

Bathym cocked his head at her as she hit the floor, he knew the sleep spell would be strong but what was that laugh? He stood curiously watching her, then walking toward the door. The witches walked in side by side with medical tools and spell books they needed to check on the status of her reproduction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will update on tumblr when the next batch of chapters is posted <3  
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> Thyme-writes


	16. False trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No TW here, just a lil angsty :)

Lucifer and Diavolo had spent day and night digging further into the students who had a scar on their lip. It was rather easy to narrow down to one demon, who since Jo had been missing was also missing from classes. Xalran had lied on every single document he had filled for Diavolo when applying for the school. His address was a store he worked at illegally and under the table when he first applied, so the mail was never redirected as he was able to receive it there. His phone number had been turned off, and when they did a full search on the phone it was found in a locker at RAD. The phone was combed meticulously over 2 days, even his information at the phone company was pulled, and it only served to spin them around in circles more. The man was incredible at redirection and pissing off Lucifer. In his locker they also found his backpack, which was only full of textbooks and diligent notes, but not a stitch of personal items were found.

It was their only lead, and if anything, the lead had simply wasted their time. The level of anger Lucifer was experience was liable to create another Satan. If he hadn’t also been tremendously sad, it would have been a genuine concern. 

The Devildom was officially informed of her disappearance, it was everywhere. The risk as this point was higher and higher the longer it took to find her, and there was very little else they could do then to make her disappearance public knowledge. There was a massive reward for anyone with valuable information, which meant it was only a matter of time before they got stronger leads, as the majority of the realm wouldn’t pass up a chance to make money, so they hoped. Lucifer and Diavolo dug their feet in until the moment they announced it, not wanting to ruin Diavolo’s reputation, and the security of his exchange students. They were up against a wall, and the only thing left to look forward to was the hope someone would have even the smallest information on her.

~~~

Solomon had stepped up to the plate, spending day and night working as well. One of the first steps he took was to lift the curse from Barbatos, and thankfully it was not complex to remove. He was now staying in the house of lamentation and was actively working on refining and sharpening his disenchanting skills, knowing once her location was found he would be the first to remove all the blocks around her. He had taken breaks from working on disenchanting to study more about blocks and how to reverb the spells, but it was a harder task then initially expected. There was nothing he could find on the topic, so he spent some of his free time working on creating a block with the same reverb ability. So far, the best he could come up with was a spell for magic shield that would stun the sorcerer who tried to attack whoever had the shield, even anyone in a small radius by where the shield was would be stunned as well. The stipulation was that you would have to be near the block, whereas these reverbs could be happening practically across the realm. The sorcerer who set them was incredibly skilled. But he was not discouraged easily, after living as long as he had, one thing he learned was his tenacity was why he had the pacts he had, it was why he was as skilled as he was. He hoped deep down Jo could hold on to her tenacity as well.

~~~

Satan heard the knock on his door, he knew it was Lucifer again likely coming to update him on the information they have found about Josephine. He was tired of the updates, they did nothing but sour his moods, especially on the days where he had been controlling his anger. He was beside himself, how could she have gone missing from their own property. She was supposed to be safe with them, and it tore him to pieces to think they had failed her so poorly.

“Satan, open the door.” Lucifer growled. Satan sent his desk flying to the door, in a false attempt at barricading himself inside. He knew it was futile, but he’d rather see Lucifer as angry as he was. Satan wanted everyone to be furious, he wanted everyone to feel the rage he held. But internally he was just running from his fear of caving into his despair.

With the flick of Lucifer's wrist the door whipped open, whisking the desk out of the way. “You must stop this childish behavior, Satan. It won’t help us find her faster.” He stood with his arms folded scolding him. 

“What do you want?” He was sitting on the floor surrounded by piles of books; he was between sorting them to put them back in his fixed shelves and looking for any information related to the kidnapping that would be useful. Lucifer thought he looked like a child, sitting legs sprawled out, looking at his books; there was an immaturity to his state.

“I have an update on her captor.” He proceeded to explain the run around they’d been going through to find the demon. Satan scowl deepened at Lucifer with every word. 

“Wouldn’t you think, someone, such as maybe yourself, would have looked further into these people at RAD?” Satan snapped.

“That’s helpful of you to note,” Lucifer rolled his eyes. “but yes, we’ve updated our process on our background search when demons apply now.” He sighed. “His mail never bounced back to us, his phone was current, he passed our interviews. Satan, he cleared all the checks we had at the time. There is nothing more to say about his admission. Not to mention, he had been at RAD for three years, before Jo even got here.”

“Very well. Anything else?” Satan refused to look back up, Lucifer's tone had changed from dripping with sarcasm to exhaustion.

“Yes, please pull any books you can find on enchanting spells. Solomon is wracking his brain to figure out what stone was enchanted on her necklace in the dream, it was likely the stone keeping Barbatos from checking the timelines for her.”

“Right, I’m sure I have so many books on mysterious stones that work with timeline enchantments...”

“SATAN.” He stormed in closer to the circle of books surrounding Satan, kicking any book in his path. “You have been NOTHING but difficult these days, must you provoke me during this?!”

Satan stood throwing a book on the ground. “Yes Lucifer, I MUST. Otherwise, I might be forced to see you crack and I refuse to witness a breakdown from you! I’d much rather you be fueled by anger then grief!” Unbeknownst to Satan, tears were streaming from his eyes. “So, if I have to be the one to set your head to furious where it should be, SO BE IT.”

Lucifer stood in shock, his mouth agape and his fists uncurling slowly. He closed his mouth, knowing Satan was right. Watching his brother, the avatar of wrath, crying was infinitely disturbing, and causing his heart to pull. He opened his mouth to argue back, but sadness washed over him like a wave. He turned on his heels and slammed the door behind him as he walked into the hallway. Satan chuckled a low quiet laugh, and under his breath he murmured, ‘thank you’.


	17. Check up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Abuse, unconscious touching, i suppose its kinda NON CON

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short but dark chapter

The voices were muted, and seemed far away at first, but when she felt the fingers inside her she was pulled closer to reality from the dream she had been in. Instead of opening her eyes, she took note of every sensation without moving, there were straps on her feet and hands pinning her to some kind of wooden table. Her knees had been tied around, so they were up and bent, but her feet were flat on the table, and her legs were spread. She could feel and hear a woman by her pelvis, pressing up into her, while someone stood next to her putting their hands on her lower abdomen. The hands on her stomach were cold and fluttered with the sensation of magic. She did her best to control her breathing, trying to mimic what she expected sleeping sounded like.

“I’m telling you, there’s nothing.” The woman whose hands were on her stomach, who sounded young, snapped.

“There is something seriously wrong with her uterus.” The woman who was between her legs said.

“What the fuck does that mean?” She could hear Xalran, his voice was frustrated and grating, and she could tell he was on the other side of her stomach from the woman touching her.

“That means she’s not pregnant, Xalran.” 

“Well, maybe it’s too soon.” He sounded worried now, back peddling.

“No, incubus sperm is fast.” The older woman stated. “It would have attached by now. It’s been 5 days, and it could have technically fertilized within 24 hours.” She pulled her fingers away and Josephine could hear her remove gloves.

“So, what the fuck are you saying?”

“Xalran!” The younger woman snapped. “She cannot get pregnant.”

He inhaled sharply then whispered, “Excuse me?” The air of the room was tense and stiff and for a moment no one spoke.

“She’s right, she has a condition with her uterus. It sheds too often; she won’t be able to bear children. Plus, her cervix is massively crooked, but that would be only a minor issue if it weren’t for her uterus. Her body is never going to reproduce.”

“How did you not know this? How long have you been observing her?” The younger woman said, with an amusement in her voice.

“Do women tell people they’re infertile?!” He snapped at her.

“Well, she’s been intimate with how many of the brothers? I know they’re not incubus, but don’t you think they would have taken a potion to knock her up by now if she could?”

“There’s no way they know! Do you think she even knows?”

“Well, she’s not asleep so I assume she’s hearing the conversation.” The younger woman said with bitterness in her tone.

Josephine felt like the minutes they were talking had been hours. Trying to contain her reaction had been hard so was relieved to hear they knew she was awake, and she couldn’t resist the cackle that came from her throat. She had known she was infertile for a long time, and of course initially she was crushed when she got the news. But as she got older, she grew with her condition, and accepted and loved her body for what it could do anyway. The only real downside then was the procedures she went through to alleviate some of her painful symptoms. She felt tears come down the sides of her face from laughing too hard and between her out of breath laughter she barked, “You fucking idiots!” She laughed as the two witches standing looked to each other worried, then to Xalran.

Xalran leaned up to her head, grabbing her hair in his fist yanking her head to face him and she gasped. “Now, just for that, I’m going to let Meyrd fuck you for fun, Josephine. You thought it was bad the first time? Just you wait, bitch.” He slammed her head down against the table and everything went black.


	18. A few perspectives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No TW here :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of different perspectives coming, weaving a lot of info between them all.

Mammon sat with his almost empty glass at a table in the back of an underground card game, dressed almost like Satan, his hair slicked back. He was trying his best to be unrecognizable, as much as he could at least. He’d spent more money than he could stomach trying to get a few witches to locate Josephine. Every spell they tried to use on her failed, some even caused issues with their magic, forcing Mammon to cough up more money, and on one occasion a witch was so furious about whatever happened to her magic he had to run to keep himself from whatever punishment was coming. He had to blend in better to keep from being spotted by any of them that may hold a grudge against him now. He spent from dusk until dawn in any shady underground bar, casino, gambling spot he could find. Waiting to find more witches.

The amount of money he’d spent was profoundly disturbing, but he’d already knew he would spend it all, every last dime. He’d put up his car next, the pool table, whatever he needed to. The thought alone made him nauseous, but he would not hesitate, not for her. He was her first, and he had failed her worse than the rest of them. And to top it off, he’d been so angry with her that morning, not even knowing she was in danger, probably hurt, and scared. Gripping the shot glass, he shot back the rest of his drink and stood to approach another group of women. 

He leaned on the bar beside the women waiting on the attention of the bartender, hoping to order drinks for himself and the ladies next to him to break into their conversation.

“She can't reproduce, I checked, and so did Yvonne. I left as fast as I could. I didn’t want to be there when they tell him.” A young, and short woman among the group spoke quiet as a whisper, but Mammon was listening with his heightened hearing and could make out every word.

“The human is barren?” A tall redhead whispered back. The younger woman smacked the top of her head, telling her to watch her mouth with an array of curses that was lost on Mammon. It was Josephine they were talking about. It must be. He stood stiff for a moment, desperate to control the demon form that was begging to spring from his body and the rage that wanted to crush this woman.

~~~

The floors were coated densely in a substance that tried to keep Asmo’s feet from lifting. It was repulsive, and his shock at even walking through the run down, beat up club didn’t falter. The club was far out of range of where any normal demons would be, too far from the center of the devildom to even be registered as a business. It was a breeding ground for the worst of the realm to mingle. He glanced around the place looking among the mass number of incubi in the club. If anyone would have heard a rumor about Josephine, it would be an incubus, no telling if any rumor from them would be true but it was worth a shot. He stepped up to the bar to order a drink and turned back to the room, the majority of the women in the room stared at him unless they were caught up in the music and dancing. Noting the smiles and winks he let his sight travel around the room. When he turned the tiniest scent of Josephine traveled just under his nose for a brief moment. 

He froze, took a deep breath, and allowed his senses to heighten. If any of these incubi had been intimate with her, he would smell it on them. She had a particularly strong and lovely smell after she had intercourse, and a lot of demons could recognize the general scent of a human, but he particularly could recognize her post-sex scent. And in a bittersweet turn of events, someone here had that smell on them. He knew for one, he would find a lead on her whereabouts now, but the idea of someone here taking her against her will made his blood boil.

He casually danced his way through the dance floor, closing his eyes to let his other senses work overtime. He weaved and danced his way through the small crowd on the dance floor not finding her scent there. Feeling himself get frustrated he moved his way to the back of the rooms where the booths were. If he simply walked the perimeter to get back to the bar, he could pass each bar table and booth close enough to smell anyone in the area. To keep himself from looking suspicious he would stop anytime he saw a pretty woman to say hello and continue on. As he made his way slowly his eyes landed on the corner booth, as few paces from the dance floor. 

Sitting in the dark recess of the booth sat an incubus that stared at Asmo. For some reason, Asmo’s anger rose. The look on the incubus’ face was smug and the smile was wrong, it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and it looked like a smile of a hyena. Asmo smiled back, trying to muster all of his insincerity to mask his rising temper. He approached the edge of where the corner booth was, and the smell of Josephine was so strong he almost gasped. The demon was covered in her smell.

Asmodeus had to cling to his restraint like a life raft, breathing shallow he sat down across from the incubus. He pushed back against his demon form trying to escape and simply let his eyes glow, honing his compulsion.

“Where is the human?”

~~~

Levi ran through the halls toward Lucifer’s room, hoping with every fiber of his being that he was still home. After one knock he burst into the door, out of breath. Lucifer looked up from his desk, his eyes were not quite as red as they used to be and Levi froze for a moment, almost forgetting what he was meaning to say. He shook himself.

“Lucifer, we might have a lead on where she is!”

“Go on, please.” Lucifer stood staring into his eyes.

“Well, I had the navy do some additional searching for me and this was just so weird. On the radar you can see a fairly large pocket of demons here.” Levi pulled out his phone to show a map, scrolling his finger over to an abandoned town. “This place was practically shredded during the war, there should be no heat signatures there!”

“You’re right Levi.” He grabbed the phone to look at it. He was impressed. “Please gather everyone, we need to prep and leave as soon as possible.” Lucifer’s heart sprung back to life with an inkling of hope and Levi ran through the halls to gather the rest of his brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3


	19. Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short one! I'm expecting this won't go past 30 chapters, so there's a lot of set up and weaving in together in this and the next chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact about me, I've been writing forever, but I've got this weird issue where I NEVER finish any story I write...   
> so cheers because I'm almost done with this! WHICH IS CRAZY. 
> 
> I write a few chapters in advance before I post anything so probably 2 weeks at the most and it will be done! 
> 
> Appreciate everyone who is commenting and following. You are all amazing <3

Satan was filtering through his books on the human realm, he knew at this point they wouldn’t be of much use to him, but he was tired of looking over the same books over and over again. He had mostly regained his composure and was between cleaning up his books and filtering through everything he owned. He knew he had been nothing but problematic for everyone since Josephine had gone missing, and he wished he could turn back time and go back to when he was first taken and just run across the realm to find her.

She was precious to them all, he was sure he wasn’t alone in feeling worthless knowing they couldn’t keep her safe. He flipped through the book in his hands, it was a book about resources grown in the human realm such as minerals and gemstones. These types of books had mostly been banned after a stint of demons travelling to the human realm too frequently to get their hands on them, the witches who aided them in the travel and the demons who stole them had been severely punished, and even some had been exiled. It could have ruined the eco system of the human realm had too many demons taken part, but it had been contained in time to keep everything under control.

After those events all the books about the materials and resources of the human realm were strictly banned, so it had taken an incredibly long time for Satan to get his hands on this one. He flipped through looking at the minerals, when he stopped, his eyes in disbelief. He had this book for years now and hadn’t found time to look through it.

But here was a passage about the best minerals and crystals from the human realm for magic in the demon realm, and the intense effects it would have on the spells.

In a flash Satan was running through the halls searching for Solomon.

~~~

The room was deathly quiet as Lucifer, Diavolo, Belphie and Beel were looking at the map. Levi had already left with his team, a small force from the navy was planning to plant a soldier at every entrance or exit to the town. Lucifer began planning the brothers as well, but not being able to reach Mammon, Satan or Asmodeus has really set him off. He had to rework his plan, having Diavolo and Beel storming the center house, where the largest heat signature was, and having Lucifer and Belphie at either entrance, if there were two, watch from outside to see if they had her and tried to move her when the two of them stormed in.

Diavolo went over the best ways to sweep the house with Beel. Keeping your back to walls, how to take a corner, how to spot a trap, finding an exit in a dark room, etc. Beel was in awe at the tact the prince had, even though he’d been on the other side before, and he knew what he was capable of. It had been a long time since seeing battle Diavolo, and he was glad to be on his side this time.

Solomon and Satan burst in the room towards the end of their conversation and planning. They wore looks similar to each other of satisfaction.

“I think I can take down the blocks, Satan found the information I needed!” Solomon was out of breath and talking fast.

“You think you can? Or you can, Solomon?” Lucifer spoke with an icy tone in his voice.

“I said I think I can Lucifer, I can’t promise but I really think I can do it. Bring me with you.” Solomon stood firm, he wasn’t one to crack under Lucifer’s scrutiny, he wasn’t really someone to crack under any scrutiny in general.

“Understood, lets go. Satan, when we arrive follow Diavolo’s lead.”

“Got it, let’s go.” 

The six of them walked out of the house of lamentation ready for the battle ahead, there was an air of confidence, but an air of fury that made them carry their posture like men ready for war.


	20. Falling dominos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence, Blood
> 
> One of my favorite chapters, I love bouncing from perspectives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER FUN FACT:
> 
> I'm working on creating a character design for Bathym and Xalran, so follow my tumblr for updates on that if you wanna see when i'm done :)
> 
> Tumblr: Thyme-writes 
> 
> (i'm new to digital art, so its not gonna be the best, but it'll be fun to see them come alive.)

Xalran stalked through the halls on a mission. He would tell Bathym, of course. He wasn’t a fool who would try to hide such a fact. But he would tell the stupid incubus to ruin her first, bring her to the brink of death for all he cared. He wasn’t sure what this would do to their plan, how they would farm the resources they wanted, how they would take any control. In fact, he wasn’t sure if the plan would be scrapped completely. What could they do with her now? Not to mention, the wrench this threw in the plan was liable to get him in trouble, and probably kicked out of Bathym’s inner circle. He didn’t care at the moment, what he wanted was for the incubus to destroy that bitch. 

He had been picked to protect the human as if it were a reward to do something so important for Bathym. He wanted to do anything BUT watch over the human’s door, it was an embarrassing role for him, bad enough he had to watch her all that time at RAD. And now, it seemed it was all for nothing. As he missed the most vital information possible. 

He barged into the room and Meyrd was no where to be seen. He had told the incubus to come an hour later tonight, but he should be here waiting. He sighed heavily, already knowing the moron had gone to that bar he KNEW he was not supposed to be at. He was not to leave this house smelling like that human, all the incubus in the house could smell her every time he walked past, and he’d practically had to fight another one of them from sneaking into her room. He should have just let him in, now he REALLY wished he had let him in.

“That idiot.” He muttered as he walked back out of the door.

~~~

The fire crackling was the only noise for a moment in Bathym’s study. Bathym wore a face of pure shock and stared at Xalran. His head was swirling like water around a drain. He had no idea how he could fix this; the changelings were off the table now; he would never have the power to bring his people between realms at his whim. He would never have the resources needed to have more control of the magic in the realm. The spinning in his head grew faster. There was no way to check those fallen angels now, aside from killing Diavolo. It was his only chance at fixing what Diavolo had done to the realm, his only way to remove the status from the brothers, and his only chance at bringing his people back from exile. But even he knew the chance of that was dreadfully slim.

“You’re telling me she cannot have children, and you just learned this now?” Bathym spoke so calmly that Xalran was scared.

“Yes sir.” Xalran said quietly.

“You know that girl could have incredible magic if she was classically trained. You know she’s got immense power, right?”

“Yes, I’ve heard that a lot.”

“So instead of impregnating her against her will, I could have been training her had I known this prior.” He growled. The missed opportunity wracked his brain. If he had gotten her as an ally, he could have gotten almost everything he needed with her power. She would have required immense training, but he could have done it. He wouldn’t have had the changelings of course, but he could have had a human sorceress learn to open the realms for his people. They would no longer struggle; they would be able to live comfortably. He could have used her to build a city to rival the Devildom, instead of him taking it over. The possibilities make his fists ball up, and his teeth grind together. This is why he needed Xalran to observe as long as he did, and yet he still hadn’t done it right.

Xalran gulped and nodded.

“Is there anything else Xalran?”

“Well, Meyrd is missing as well.” He said shakily, rather tell him now then later when Meyrd is back from whatever he is doing.

Bathym let out a heavy sigh, very frustrated sounding. 

“You’re both morons.” He stood, muttering a spell under his breath and Xalran dropped to the floor with a thud, fast asleep.

~~~

Mammon had not controlled his anger to the best of his ability. He wanted to laugh at himself, but he knew he was likely in big trouble all across the realm. He ran through the streets with the young witch slung over his shoulders. She just kept talking about Josephine, and all the things she would be punished with now that she wouldn’t be able to give them a baby. Mammon could take only a minute of the things they said before his demon form snapped into reality and he broke a bottle over her head. It happened so fast he couldn’t stop himself. Mammon continued to assault the other women with her, before he picked up the one who first spoke of Josephine, throwing her over his shoulders and running like his life depended on it. She would wake up soon and he needed to contain her before he could use her magic on him. 

He searched the house of lamentation high and low and everyone was gone. He was cursing under his breath and panting. If he didn’t figure out how to keep her from using magic on him, and quickly, he was in sincere danger. Realization hit him, at the underground card game he had checked his DDD in the entrance, as you were required to because the place was a huge secret, and he was now unable to reach anyone. He was running back toward the entrance when the doors opened, Asmodeus and another demon walking in with him. The demon next to him was much taller than Asmo, and his yellow eyes looked wrong, but his stance was casual, like he was perfectly comfortable here.

“Who the hell is that?” Mammon snapped.

“Mammon! I should ask the same?! Is she unconscious?” Asmo gaped at him.

“Oh, look that’s Maeve.” The demon next to Asmo sounded drunk, he pointed to the witch over Mammon’s shoulders. The two brothers froze, looking at the demon, who stood looking at the witch over his shoulder. Asmo met Mammon’s eyes, a realization happening between them both. Mammon growled stepping closer to the demon, Asmo trying to stand in the middle of them both.

“Where is Solomon, or the others? We can talk in a bit; we have something to do first.”

“No one is here.” Mammon eyed the other demon still, knowing he was connected to this if he knew the witch. He could feel his body on the edge of knocking him out too, but he knew he couldn’t carry them both.

Asmo checked his phone, gritting his teeth slightly. “They found the location.”

“Shit, lets drop this one,” he gestured to the Maeve. “with Barbatos if he’s home.”

“Yeah, he can also stay there.” Asmo gestured to demon with him, who looked all around the room innocently, acting like he was partially deaf. “I will call him on the way, let’s go.”

Barbatos opened the door in his demon form. “You’re lucky you called when you did, I was about to leave since you both were absent.” He looked at the demon with Asmo, and the witch on Mammon’s shoulder. Just at that moment, the witch began to stir, moaning quietly about her head. “Quickly, head to the basement.”

They rushed to the basement, Asmo commanding the demon with him to run. They arrived at the room where Barbatos had them stop, inside there was an anti-magic circle on the floor that didn’t allow anyone in the room to use magic. There was also an array of restraints against the wall, enough to hold at least 6 demons against the stone walls. On the other side there were knives, surgical tools, power tools, and items that weren’t easy to identify but things that would hurt to be touched with. Once they all stepped inside the incubus looked questioningly at Asmodeus and then began to charge at him. The compulsion had worn off because of the magic circle, and he was back in control of his own body. Asmo changed to his demon form in a snap, looking back at the incubus with a furious scowl, and before the incubus could reach him Mammon had jumped on him, tackling him to the floor. The incubus hit the floor with a thud, groaning, and Mammon stood up and both him and Asmo took turns kicking him repeatedly until blood was running out of his mouth and his eyes were swollen shut.

While Mammon and Asmo were busy with the incubus, the witch had woken up and began shouting. Her incantations never materialized anything, and she was cursing. She practically reached the edge of the room before Barbatos caught her arm. She was a mere foot from the doorway, and she pulled back on his arm trying to get away with all the force in her body. She pulled so hard that the majority of her weight was pressed into her legs as she leaned into the pulling motion. Barbatos swung his foot into the front of her shins with a crack and she collapsed to the floor landing face first, the impact knocking her back unconscious. He dragged her by her feet to the wall, meeting the other two who were dragging the incubus over to the restraints as well. Barbatos assisted them with strapping him in and chaining him to the wall tightly, then moving on to the witch and strapping her in secure as well.

“I knew it, I knew you had a torture chamber.” Mammon laughed.

“One doesn’t serve the prince well without it.” Barbatos shrugged, winking at Mammon, and then looked back to the two captives they had. “Shall I wake them and question them? You two can go in place of me to the location, they’re searching an entire abandoned town. May be best if I get more information from these two.”

“Is he the one?” Mammon looked at Asmo, as if he hadn’t heard Barbatos at all, and Asmo nodded his head solemnly.

Mammon went over to the man and kicked him as hard as he could between the legs. The incubus gasped and coughed opening his eyes slightly and whimpering in pain. Mammon breathed heavy as he gripped his hair pulling his head back to look at Mammon, his knuckles were white, and his jaw was clenched.

“When I get back, you’re fucking dead.” He growled in his face, letting go of his hair, stepping back just slightly and punching the side of his jaw with all his strength. The incubus’ face made a popping noise, Mammon turned back to Barbatos, and his head hung slightly as the incubus tried to control his spinning vision. “Well, he’s up now, you’re welcome.” More blood dripped from his mouth and the incubus started laughing quietly. Mammon snapped his head back toward the incubus and Asmo grabbed his arms before he could move.

“We are more helpful where the rest of them are, we can rip him apart later. Let’s go.” The animalist fury in Mammon’s eyes didn’t reprieve at all, he stood firm looking at the incubus, who’s laughing had stopped but he looked up at Mammon. The amount of pride in the incubus’ eyes was almost comical for a demon who was strapped to a wall.

“Please, go,” Barbatos pushed Mammon, who allowed himself to be pushed finally. “I will catch up hopefully with more information.”


	21. Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence, Blood
> 
> Alright, the concept here is totally non cannon ofc, not really my theory, though now that I've written it I want to know more...
> 
> Hope you like it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you've got any opinions or questions!!! Love reading the comments from you all. <3

Not only were his plans foiled, but upon learning both the incubus and the witch were missing, he was alerted that a small force of the Hell’s Navy was spotted a few miles away. They were coming for her. Initially he hoped she was pregnant before they came for her so all he had to worry about was hiding her well enough. His soldiers knew it was a suicide mission to fight them, but they’d signed up in hopes Bathym could change the fate of the others. Now his head was a blur, what was his best choice here? Should he surrender her before they get here? What good was she now for his plans? Wouldn’t it be easier to start over without her? Josephine not only couldn’t birth the changelings he wanted, but also, she must hate him immensely and keeping her as an ally could never happen now. He was torn, he could just order his men to leave, not let anyone fight, and leave her tied up in the house. But the brothers would never stop until they found who did this to her.

She was now simply a bargaining chip, assuming of course Diavolo cared enough for her to bargain with her life. He just really didn’t want it to come down to this. He wasn’t like Meyrd, or even Xalran. He didn’t hate Josephine; he was fascinated with her. Granted, he believed Diavolo was a fool for bringing her here, for giving her the attention she’s gotten. But she was too valuable to not utilize. She had no idea the power her spawn would have down here, and it was such a shame she would never know now. He entered the room looking at her, seeing blood trailing down the back of her head, Xalran must have given her a harsh treatment, though it wasn’t her fault her body was flawed. He was curious as to why she was not tied up after the procedure, but he assumed that was the reason he went looking for Meyrd, only to find him missing. He sighed, knowing he couldn’t just give up, or surrender her to them. 

All he wanted was to fix the realm, it was blasphemous that demons were expected to follow a group of fallen angels. For the demons who fought in the war, they were supposed to practically kneel to these half ass demons, just because they pledged allegiance to Diavolo. Of course, the way the exiled ones behaved immediately was reckless and had they not all attacked the fallen angels and plotted for their end, maybe the sentence would have been lighter. He recognized the attack was foolhardy, but those demons were Diavolo’s subjects. They fought for him, they admired him, and he abandoned them. In turn, the only requirement initially to come back was to kneel before the brothers and swear to protect them with their lives. It was insulting, and degrading. Instead, a few hundred years passed, and when they returned to offer a trade system, the insult was so heavy in Diavolo’s eyes he practically put a bounty on their heads.

He had vowed make this deserted section of the realm a haven, even if he couldn’t control the rest of the realm. The demons here were worth more than the state they had been living in. He walked back to his study; it was time to prepare to go underground for now. He began filling a bag of salves, to treat the human’s wounds and collected as many of his enchanted stones as he could

~~~

The incubus hardly groaned under Barbatos’ heavy hand, which was impressive, but his breathing gave him away. This demon must have been tortured for years before now; he was controlling his breathing which helped him keep his pain tolerance so high. Barbatos was amused, he knew once the demon’s breath hitched just once, his breathing pattern would be interrupted, and Barbatos would have him in seconds.

“I was told… you were... a dangerous demon...” The incubus said slowly, not changing his breathing pattern.

“That’s nice, do I have a fan among your friends?” Barbatos quipped back, looking over his tools and listening to his breathing.

“Well… Bathym isn’t.. exactly a fan…”

“Bathym?” As soon as the name left his mouth an image ran through his head of the past.

Hundreds of years before the war, the memory poured back in. The split in reality caused a blinding white tear cracking through the sky and ground slowly. Barbatos stood before the crack, astonished, confused, and angry. He had half a mind to step into the crack and let silence take him, it was his fault and maybe if he were gone it would reverse itself, and the crack that was threatening to take down the realm would disappear.

“Barbatos!” The voice sounded distant, was it far away or was Barbatos just so tormented he could barely hear it. “Please, let me help you!” It was Diavolo, he could tell, he turned his head to the side slightly to see Diavolo with the most concerned look on his face. “We can fix it!!!” Barbatos looked around and time had stopped besides the two of them, which was why the crack was moving so slowly but the realm was trembling. It was a bold move of Diavolo to try and pause time now.

“We don’t have time Barb, please, let me help you!” 

He stepped back and turned to walk towards Diavolo. “How?” 

“You have to reset it; you’ve created too many timelines! Go to this time and day. I will come with you this time.” Diavolo was spouting nonsense, holding a paper with the time he was referring to, but the reset would only further push the crack in reality, and it would take them all out. In fact, it was going to take them all out anyway, Barbatos shrugged. He already was going to lose it all, so he stepped close to Diavolo, reaching out to him. “Once this is over Barbatos, promise me you will control yourself.” Barbatos nodded, he would do anything Diavolo said if this would fix it.

The flashback integrity was shifting, as if two memories played over each other. Barbatos watched the memory of him returning to the previous day and having to kill his previous self, to keep himself from the first of many severe timeline mistakes he made. He also watched simultaneously a confused man materializing from smoke, running through a hallway with his braids bouncing behind him. After his old body dissipated, the shaking stopped. Barbatos, feeling numb, dropped to his knees before Diavolo.

“I swear my loyalty to you and will faithfully serve you from here on out.” Diavolo was shocked at first and tensed up, but he smiled warmly, reaching his hand out helping Barbatos back to his feet.

Confused with why that flashback played in his mind Barbatos shook himself slightly, reaching for a new tool. He knew it wasn’t magic, the floor rune protected that, so why did that flashback feel so strong, and why was it warped?

“I think you should follow the brothers Barb; you could have a really nice reunion I think.” The incubus laughed and Barbatos heard the change in his breath. Barbatos spun, he was on him faster then he could correct his breathing and the incubus screamed bloody murder.


	22. The search pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence, blood, death, gore.
> 
> Please do not read this chapters if any of these trigger warnings may bother you <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writers block is a bitch but I'm back with an update and we're SO CLOSE TO THE END.

Josephine woke with a blinding headache; she touched the back of her head feeling the warm blood pooled up under her head. She could hear light footsteps in the hall, and realized it was likely Bathym but if it were Xalran she had to pretend to be asleep. She let her body go limp, breathing heavily as she heard the door open. The footsteps inside the room were practically silent, she wondered how he could possibly be so quiet. Then she heard a heavy sigh, deep down even if he was the mastermind behind all this, that she almost felt like he didn’t want it to be so harsh on her. She felt her heart tug, she knew this demon had fairly decent intentions, but he was running with an awful crowd and he would eventually go down. She willed herself to ignore any emotions she was feeling, he made his bed, and it was not any of her business what happened to him.

Since she had come back to the Devildom, she had always wanted to know about Diavolo coming to be the prince because she wondered what the adversary in the situation was. She didn’t believe for a second any of these demons opposed him initially, but once the brothers fell, they became the enemy of the prince. She wondered back then if there were rebels, and what that must be like. Everyone in the devildom was stronger than any single human in her world, so the thought of the demons who would fight over succession was a concern of hers. Now she knew a little more about these rebels, and it was actually a bit disappointing. While they happily raped and beat her, it was still kind of embarrassing, the state they lived in. They really did live like cockroaches, probably more like scavengers at this point. She wasn’t in much of a state to pity them, but she still did. They only acted this way because they were backed into a corner, not because they genuinely wanted to. Besides maybe the incubus… he genuinely was a piece of garbage and he probably would be happy to live like a cockroach.

After waiting to hear the click of the door and she slowly sat up, all the blood rushed to her head, and it felt like it was split in half. She had to bite her lip to keep from groaning, she closed her eyes trying to acclimate to the pain, it was not going away anytime soon. In her head the past few days she’d been tracking sounds in the old creaky house, and she had a good idea of where the back door was. Now was her only chance, at any point the incubus or Xalran could come in, in fact she was shocked he hadn’t come yet. She shook her worries about the incubus off her and she slowly rose to her feet, realizing it had been days since she could stretch out, and her body ached all over. A whimper caught in her throat; it hadn’t occurred to her how much it would hurt to stand up straight. Her body ached as she tried to extend all her limbs, her back felt like it was permanently hunched but she knew it would stretch back to normal in a few hours, if she could find that time and actually make it out of this place.

Wincing, she walked over to the door and cracked it just enough to glance down the hallway. She let her body adjust and leaned against the door frame momentarily, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to muster all the courage she could pull from deep within her. There wasn’t a demon in sight, but she knew they could be close. Slinking against the wall, she crept through the hall, knowing that likely she could cause creaks in the floorboards if she walked in the center of the hall. Sweat beaded on her forehead, she couldn’t quite figure out if it was from stress, fear, or the white-hot pain coming from the back of her head. Taking small steps and testing the boards before putting all her weight on it was making the long hallway take forever. Based on seeing it now, seeing all the closed doors in the hall, and compared to the sounds she heard through the house, she was almost sure she was the only living thing in this hall. She had to be careful no one would hear her, as anyone would be able to guess it would be her.

Approaching slowly, she finally could see the staircase she had heard all those times, which meant based on her guess, the front door was only a little bit further on the other side of the hall. Standing still she flattened against the wall before the stairs and listened. She took a slow, deep breath and turned her head slowly allowing just the front of her head to peek around the corner.

And there he was.

“You’re pretty quiet for a human.” Bathym smiled, his face only inches from the corner of the wall Josephine were behind. He whispered an incantation, and just barely reaching out in time to catch Josephine as her body went limp.

~~~

Levi stood to the back, watching his recruits dart around in the dark to the extent that he could barely see them. Being in contact with the Navy, trying to search, make plans and now acting out this order had really helped him to contain any emotions he had about the situation. But now that he was here, executing this, his anxiety soared again. What if those who took her acted irrationally and killed her for the invasion they were acting out. He was scared but he knew this was their best shot at saving her. Levi slinked around in the dark, the town they approached was very small, it was ruins of a town actually. The houses and buildings were destroyed and had been rebuilt, you could see the change in color of the walls outside, the lack of ivy in places that had been rebuilt.

As Levi looked around, he was curious how this place came to be, how was there this many demons out here to do all this work? He wondered why they stayed here instead. The town was not fortified by any means, it did not appear there was any protection around the area, and there were no gates anywhere. He could visibly see that there was a watch tower like area, but it was vacant. Whoever they were, they were not concerned with people coming in. The concept of that gave him chills, and he felt for a moment maybe they were walking right into a trap. There was no way a town of rebels, who boldly kidnapped their Josephine, would be so susceptible to an invasion. And as the thought crossed his mind, he watched more black figures pop up around his recruits, the sounds of battle ensuing.

~~~

Lucifer could hear the fighting begin when they were still about a quarter mile away from the town, and they began running. Levi was supposed to arrive first with the Hell’s Navy squad and they were only supposed to survey the town first, doing their best to not be spotted. From the sounds of it, they were all clearly spotted, and maybe even matched in numbers. He hoped they were not outnumbered; Levi would take harsh criticism for bringing them into a personal situation if there were severe injuries. When they approached the edge of the town, they could see Levi running into the center of the town, his demon form out, and his tail wrapping around demons and whipping them through the air. The otaku took on his role as the Admiral and moved into the area where his recruits were devastatingly surrounded outside the large complex they planned to search. It had to be where she was. Lucifer moved toward the center as well. He paused behind a building giving Diavolo the signal to find the back entrance, Satan and Beel following Diavolo in a tight formation. Solomon came up beside him with Belphie on his other side. 

“Lucifer, I know you’re going to bail out Levi, but I need to find the blocks while everyone is busy, can Belphie cover my back while I work to disable them?” Solomon whispered.

“Be careful.” Lucifer nodded, his eyes were burning red again, a wildly different Lucifer than the past few days. The anger coursing through his veins was fueling him. But not only anger, hope was now overwhelming him, he could practically feel her here though he wasn’t sure how, he just knew she would be here. Which made him believe he could save her, finally. His demon form took shape, and they parted ways, Lucifer flying to the group that now surrounded Levi.

As his feet touched the ground a demon turned around to face him, a dagger in each hand. Lucifer moved swift, grabbing the demon’s forearms, and snapping them both back. A loud crack on each side, followed by a garbled scream from the demon before him, then he crumbled to the ground and Lucifer stepped on his torso as he walked forward. Another demon approached him, moving much faster this time, holding a long-curved dagger, and from the hair on the back of his neck, there was another coming behind him. The front attacker jutted his arm out to try and stab Lucifer in the stomach, who dodged the attack, shifting to the side and slamming the side of his hand on the demon’s arm, the other hand reaching for the curved blade in a flash. The demons arm snapped as Lucifer took the blade from his now slack grip, bringing the blade up to his neck and sliced. In the same quick motion Lucifer spun, ducking, with the blade out and sliced deep into the abdomen of the demon behind him who had swung at the back of where his head had just been. The demon froze just for a moment before grabbing at his stomach as the blood poured out.

Since he had taken the backside of the group, Levi had more space to back up toward lucifer where they fought off the group in tandem, Lucifer attacking to the right, while Levi behind him attacked to his right as well, they dodged and attacked in unison. Levi’s tail was incredible, watching him wrap it around demons and snap their necks, or throw them into the darkness, it seemed as if it weren’t even a challenge. He looked as if he could do it in his sleep. Lucifer could swing his wings to knock someone down, easily, but he only used it in a defensive tactic, and tonight he was on the offence. Between the two, they were a dangerous pair to fight against. Levi was not one who would quick to battle, but he was devastating once he got in the mix. 

The magic blocks outside the house were too strong to be able to use any powers, so they were forced to use pure strength and any weapons left by the fallen demons. Luckily, they expected as much, so they were not caught by surprise. Still, Lucifer was hoping Solomon would get those blocks removed soon, because once he did, he would gladly hurl every demon before him into the closest wall without lifting a finger.


	23. The search pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence, blood, gore, etc.
> 
> Sorry these chapters were action heavy, lots of violence lol

Beel was the first in the back door, Diavolo close behind him. He vowed there was no way he would let the prince storm the rebel hold first, just in case of any attack waiting inside the door. To no surprise, he was right, and two demons charged at him from each side of the room just as his foot was fully inside the frame. Beel laughed, and the chuckle rattled even Diavolo as he and Satan looked at each other silently. It was a rumbling belly laugh that escaped Beel. He leaned on one foot in one smooth movement, his right foot raising to kick flat against the chest of one of the rebels knocking the air out of his lungs as he hit the floor. His hand grabbing the arm of the other demon and whipping his body in the air above his head. Beel’s foot dropped back down to a normal stance as he brought the demons body crashing down on the other. The two of them gasping deep before going unconscious.

“So not going in quiet, got it.” Satan laughed, Diavolo letting out a light chuckle as well. 

“Oh,” Beel blushed. “Sorry I got carried away...” He rubbed the back of his neck, but quickly proceeded forward, walking quiet as if he didn’t just alert the whole house. Satan trailed in the back behind Diavolo, amused by Beel’s decisiveness. It wasn’t common to see him take the lead with anything, so Satan couldn’t help but feel proud. They continued forward into the hallway, and quickly realized the floorboards were so old that their location would be obvious throughout the entire house. Every step was an alert to anyone within range. The real concern at this point was to search the house quickly, without the veil of surprise now there was no reason to move slow and quiet.

“There’s no way to do this quietly, lets just split up and move quickly.” Diavolo said. Satan nodded and headed toward the staircase at the end of the hall, no longer taking small quiet steps but letting his presence be known. “I’ll take the main floor, Beel look for a cellar or basement entrance, that would probably be a good place to hide her.” Beel nodded, heading towards the front rooms and Diavolo crossed through a sitting room to a winding hallway.

~~

Satan arrived to the second floor and did not hesitate for a second as he kicked down every door he passed. Many were empty bedrooms, a few were storage rooms. He could feel his teeth grinding every time a room was found empty. He was the avatar of wrath and was not often in a situation where he could wield his wrath freely, so the buildup of his fury was ready to pour of him like syrup from a tapped tree. He felt like he would level the house himself if he didn’t find someone soon to unleash his wrath on. The doors were splitting at the seam, cracking down the middle, or breaking off at the hinge in Satan’s path when he finally reached the study. He entered the room in a fury, his hands up and his stance defensive. He took a look around the room, the fire was crackling at the side of the room in front of the gilded chair. He laughed briefly imagining this delusional demon that sat before it thinking his scavenging followers meant something.

His eyes flitted across the room and landed on a demon laying slumped against the wall in the back of the room. He was next to the man’s head in a flash, lifting him up by his collar and slapping his face. The demon groaned but his eyes were still closed. The previous impact of hitting the wall he was against must have been strong, and there was blood coming from the back of his head.

“Wake up.” Satan smacked the back of his head where the source of the blood was falling and the mans eyes flew open. His chocolate brown eyes were glazed over as he was starting to recognize his surroundings. Satan studied his face, seeing the scar on his lip and knowing this was the man who took Josephine. His blood was boiling, ready to explode now.

“Where is she?” Satan growled, slamming the demon’s body back against the wall.

Xalran started laughing. “She was downstairs, but I’m sure she has been moved by now.” His eyes finally registered who he was looking at, and between the laughter Satan could see his eyes were wide in fear looking back at him.

“Where would she have been taken?” His teeth were clenched together tight, trying to contain himself since the demon was cooperative for now. The demon gripped at Satan’s fore arms and tried to push away from him. He was strong but not strong enough to fend off Satan. 

“There are countless bunkers within a mile of this hold, he could have taken her anywhere.” He was still struggling to get out of his hold. “He discarded me here like TRASH at the first sign of danger.” His voice was shaking now. “Do you really think I’d know?!” He was yelling in Satan’s face, but even Satan could feel the truth of it. The demon was thrown against a wall hard enough to be unconscious and difficult to wake up, there’s no telling how long he’d been out for and how long of a lead the demon who had Josephine would have. 

“Fine, then you’re useless to me.” He growled, Xalran laughed a solemn laugh and Satan threw him against the floor, releasing his shirt and his fist connected to the demon’s face with a loud crack. “YOU TOOK HER FROM ME.” Another crack to the opposite side of his face, and Xalran was coughing up blood now. “IF YOU THINK I’LL JUST WALK AWAY FROM YOU,” His hands gripped the demons face, and slammed the back of his head against the floor, and Xalran went unconscious again. Satan tried to regulate his breathing, which was coming out in furious heaving breaths. This was a waste of time, he couldn’t stand here and beat him to death, not until he found her. “You’re filth.” Satan spoke softly and let the demon’s head go limp on the floor before kicking his ribs.

~~~

Diavolo was cautious walking through the house, while he could hear Satan upstairs breaking everything in his path. The attention would be on him upstairs with all the noise he was making, so he could easily sneak through the halls. To his dismay every door he opened and peeked into was void of any demons. The rooms contained furniture, paintings, gilded items, and vases. He noted many of them were expensive artifacts, and even with his limited knowledge it was clear to him they were worth millions. They were old, from an era before the celestial war, none of these items would be easy to acquire. How did these demons get their hands on this stuff? The house was in disrepair, the floors, walls, and doors seemed to be original interior from the house, that was built an incredibly long time ago. How many were living here and for how long? Were these the demons from hundreds of years ago that defied him? His heart was racing. Some of the demons those years ago were strong and capable demons in his army that left the Devildom after the angels had fallen. His frustration set in, accepting that the human wasn’t taken simply because she was a human, that she was probably taken because she important to him.

His fists were clenched, and he started to race through the halls with the same energy as Satan. Pounding doors open, hoping to find and face any of the demons who had been living here. He was getting frustrated. Did they evacuate before they arrived? Why would they have demons at the back entrance if there was nothing to be found? He froze at a door, more realization coming to him. This was just a misdirection. She wouldn’t be in the house; it was too easy to navigate. Not to mention, the large group of demons fighting in the front of the house brought all their attention here. It gave them all the idea to search this first. He played right into their hands. He shoved the door open ahead of him and he saw a puddle of blood beside chains linked to the wall. Running over to the blood, he stopped just short of the puddle and his senses were overwhelmed with her scent. She was here at one point, but they moved her before they could get here. 

Storming out of the room, his blood was boiling, he had to gather the other two and get out of here before they got too far with her.

“SATAN!!” He ran back to the stairs where he met Satan running down them.

“She’s not here Dia.”  
“I know, we have to hurry, let’s get Beel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like Beel didn't get to shine much, so I let him be the beefy strong boi here <3


	24. Side search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No TW, a break from the fighting!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually really like these two together, it was fun to write.

There was a cluster of small houses across the way from the large hold, creating a semi-circle facing in. Solomon and Belphie slinked across the property toward the houses to take immediate cover away from the groups of fighting demons. Belphie was in a fighting stance, appearing to be full of rage and energy like Solomon had never seen before. 

“I bet these houses contain the blocks, they’re in a perfect position to cover the whole area without being in the actual hold.” Solomon whispered to Belphie.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone inside, lets search them.” Belphie said with confidence. Solomon wanted to smile at this Belphie he’d never seen, but the circumstances were dire. He nodded and they circled back to the front of the house, testing the doorknob, which was unlocked. Solomon looked to Belphie, who motioned him to stand back.

Belphie pushed on the door opening it fully and standing to the side, waiting to see if they would be ambushed upon entry. There wasn’t a single sound coming from inside the building, so he glanced around the door frame and saw it was empty. He took a step inside and the floor creaked, looking around to see if the noise startled anything, he took in the items surrounding him. It looked like the home of a seamstress, though there was no evidence of a bedroom. There was clothes and upholstery in various stages of completion on every rack, table, and ironing board. Belphie was curious momentarily, but he let it roll off him as he searched the back rooms, only to find leather curing in the large back room. He looked back to the main room and Solomon was searching the room frantically. Belphie took the initiative to search the room as well, not finding a single stone in sight.

“Found it!” Solomon shouted. Belphie went running back to where he stood, the crystal sitting in a large potted plant by the door. It looked like blue glass, nothing like a stone he expected to see. It was cubic shaped, and it looked like it was practically glowing. 

“What is that Solomon?” Belphie stepped closer to look at the shine on the stone.

“It’s a crystal from the human world. Many humans keep these to protect themselves, this helps against magic attacks, but instead it was enchanted to subdue magic here. Its actually a brilliant use for this crystal, I hesitate to say I’m impressed, because these demons are awful, but I can’t help but feel intrigued.”

Solomon turned looking at the floor, kneeling down he took a knife and began carving into the wood. He was grunting dragging the blade across the floor, and when he was finished, he placed the stone inside the circle, and let out a satisfactory sigh. 

“Is that it?” Belphie asked curiously.

“The circle removes all magic, so yes the block has been removed.” He stood up eying the stone curiously. “I’m taking the stone with me to study it more later, but there’s still more, I can’t use my magic still. Let’s go.”

Belphie nodded, heading toward the door looking around the house outside, looking back at Solomon who waited patiently and nodded. The two of them left the small house, keeping their bodies low they crept across to the next house, crouching behind it. Belphie circled the back looking in the windows. There were no lights, no fire or candles, and no sounds of any activity inside, just like the first. Belphie waved Solomon to walk over to him, and the two approached the door opening it quietly. 

The smell of drying meat was the first thing they noticed, and upon entry they could see this was a stockpile room for all their food. They looked around briefly, listening and standing quietly. The organization of the demons who constructed these houses was impressive. Not only did they have a seamstress and a leather curing house, but now this. The house they were in now was full of food, there was glass jars all across the shelves on each side of the wall. Dried goods in all the jars and an array of breads and rolls wrapped on the shelves. There was a row of strung up meats and fish drying in the back of the room, surrounded by herbs drying hanging upside down. Belphie was in a trance looking around, while Solomon had given the rest of the house no more than a quick glance. 

Solomon assumed based on the last house, that the stone would be closest to the entrance as possible. It made sense that it would be in the front, since the houses were all in a semi-circle facing the property. There was likely nothing behind the houses worth protecting so strongly so this made the most sense to him. At the windowsill he could see the brilliant blue stone he was searching for. This time upon picking it up he tried to probe the block within the stone. He really needed to know the strength of the block and how far it extended. If it were a large radius, he would have to find every single stone before he could safely use magic. 

The probing was proving difficult. Without being able to use his magic it was practically impossible to get more information on the spell used for the block. Quick on his feet, he realized he could use a different circle on the floor. Adding a few glyphs in, he would be able to modify the spell before removing it, and he could get loads of information on the spell once he did that. 

Belphie glided across the floor, practically silent, looking for anyone hiding. He reached the back door, almost in the same place as the last house. Hearing the scraping on the floor he looked to the front where Solomon was starting to carve the circle into the floor holding another stone in his other hand. He tried to turn the doorknob and it resisted. He stopped for a moment, feeling panic rise slightly. What was beyond this door? Why was it locked? He pressed his ear against the door to listen, but he was unable to hear beyond Solomons scraping across the floor. He let out a frustrated exhale as he leaned back, bracing himself to check his shoulder against the door until he broke it down.

“Done, lets move.” Solomon nodded as Belphie looked over, he hesitated looking at the door, but nodded back and began to leave the house heading to the next one.


	25. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, extreme violence
> 
> Please do not read this chapter if this makes you uncomfortable, the violence is explicitly written.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** To be nice for anyone invested I'll be clear, its not the reunion your thinking of. But its a good one :) **

Diavolo and Satan were running across the sitting room when the front door burst open. They stood back, in defense, and Lucifer strolled in with blood splatters across his face. Apart from the blood splatters, he looked to be quite untouched. His iron clad expression was just at the edge of cracking now. Diavolo could see the adrenaline that had fueled him was fading rapidly upon seeing them without Josephine. Lucifer stood, his eyebrows wavering between fury and concern.

“Have you not found her yet?” His cracking voice defied his dangerous look.

“None of that blood is yours, right?” At the same time Diavolo spoke sternly, but the sound of concern was obvious in the statement.

Silence filled the room for a moment, then Satan spoke. “She’s not here Lucifer. I found Xalran upstairs unconscious, looks like they left him behind.”

“Where is Beel?” He spoke in a growl, “And no, this is not my blood.” He wiped his gloved hand across his forehead smearing the blood across his pale skin.

“He went to search for a cellar or basement, we checked the rest of the house. I found the room she was held in, she is definitely hurt, there was blood.”

Lucifer growled ferociously, he turned and punched through the stained-glass window next to the front door. He let his hands rest on the wall next to the window and pushed his head against it. His emotions were churning, and he couldn’t think straight. He could feel her slipping from his grip and it was making him lose control. If he never saw her again, he didn’t know what he would do. He tried to shake the thoughts out of his head. Satan and Diavolo were conversing softly when he stood up straight and turned.

“Alright, you two go find Beel, check the basements she could still be in here. I will check the abandoned houses where we came into the property, they were in bad shape so it would be a good place to hide right under our noses.” He turned to walk out the door but stopped. “Have you seen Belphie or Solomon yet? I need these blocks gone.”

“No, we haven’t seen them yet,” Diavolo turned to Satan. “Let’s get Beel.” Satan nodded solemnly.

“Find Solomon when you’re done, he and Belphie may need help.”

~~~

The stairs in hall were groaning under Beel as he walked down to the basement. There were small candles lit through the hallway ahead of him. He was beginning to get frustrated with the lack of demons he was encountering. It was confusing, why were the demons at the back door so aggressive and now he hasn’t seen another single demon. His breath was coming out rushed and jagged, working to focus harder on the task ahead. He really didn’t have time to get distracted. The hallway came to an end, branching off with another darker hallway on each side. He stood silently, listening for voices and sure enough to the left he heard demons whispering. He lowered his body and pressed against the wall, slinking into the room.

He caught the demon by surprise who was closest to the entry way and kicked him square in the back, forcing the air out of his lungs and lunging forward before dropping to the floor. Beel could feel the other demon coming at him before he even looked up, and dodged to his left, swinging his right arm to hook the demon in the stomach. He let out an exhale similar to the other demon who has fallen to the ground, but he staggered back. Beel rushed at him, and the demon tried to dodge the attack, unsuccessfully. Beel charged into him, taking him down to the ground where he found himself pounding against the demon’s face. With the adrenaline coursing through him he didn’t hear or sense the other demon coming up behind him, and he felt a kick against the back of his head him. Unfortunately for the other demon the impact was hardly received, and Beel barely moved. He stood up turning to face the demon who attacked him from the back, who stood nervous, trying to take a defensive stance against him. Beel gripped the demon by the neck raising him up off the ground.

“Where is Josephine?” He growled low, the baritone in his voice was amplified by his anger. His body felt like it was shaking, and while he knew he was furious, it felt like he was shaking in fear.

“Long…gone…” the demon croaked, gasping deep.

“Where is she?!” Beel screamed.

“I don’t know, he didn’t tell us.”

“Who?” Beel was shaking in tremors now. He wanted to let his anger out, but the fear was magnified. Josephine did not deserve any of this, and it was breaking his heart. It was all their fault she was in this mess and he would not stop until he found her. “Where did they go?!” He was screaming now, shaking the demon.

“They’re in the tunnels somewhere, her and Bathym.”

“Where do I find the tunnels?” His grip eased up.

“The abandoned houses north of the hold. There’s an entrance there.” His breath was coming slower, as if he were about to pass out.

Beel squeezed tighter, if he didn’t knock this demon out, he would end up killing him. “She better be alive when I find her, or I will come back for you and rip all your limbs off.”

~~~

Solomon was carving into the floorboards of the 3rd house, which was mostly empty. There were a few pieces of furniture and paintings hanging but not much else in the room. Belphie stood watching as Solomon carved the circle, placing the stone in the center. He glanced around the room, and since it was mostly barren, he hadn’t checked the back room. He strolled to the back door, and when he swung the door open a demon came out at him at full speed, knocking him to the ground. Solomon stood, alert and on defense as he watched Belphie fend off the demon, overpowering him and turning him on his back, when another came barreling out of the back room crashing a ceramic pot over Belphie’s head. The sound echoed through the room, and Belphie let out a groan. He looked to Solomon, with blood trailing down his head and Solomon reach for the knife at his belt.

“No...” Belphie groaned, blood streaming down his face and rose to his feet swinging at the second demon. “Solomon, go!” He stood watching the demons attack Belphie and he was frozen. He couldn’t imagine leaving him in the state he was in, but he also knew Belphie would not tell him to leave if he couldn’t handle it. Right?

Solomon backed up a step, then turned and ran to the next house. He burst through the door without a second thought. He searched the front of the house wildly, desperate to find the stone so he could rush back to help Belphie when he got his magic back. He found the stone in a cabinet and he swiftly carved the circle on the floor. He dropped the stone onto the circle and immediately tested his magic and he was still blocked. He shouted and slammed his fists on the floor.

“NO!” He screamed. There were no other houses left in this area, was there blocks in the main house? Was there blocks in the abandoned houses where they entered the property? Where else were they hiding? He could feel himself filling up with rage. The rest of the brothers were fighting against everyone in the hold and around the property, and here he was slowing down Belphie, and barely even helping in the ONLY way he could.

He stood and turned toward the door as a demon charged in at him, Solomon, reflexively raised his arm to block an attack and he could see the shine of a knife at the last second and cursed under his breath. The knife lodged into Solomon's forearm and the demon attacking him pushed harder against the knife, trying to twist it in his arm. Solomon screamed, and gripped his own knife, aiming low and stabbing the demon in the abdomen. The demon staggered back slightly, and Solomon took the opportunity to kick him in the chest, sending him flying back. Belphie came running toward the demon on the ground and kicked him in the head with all his might, Solomon stared dazed, the amount of blood coming out of his arm was alarming.

It took him a minute to catch himself against the door, and Solomon yanked the knife from his arm. Causing more blood to flow from his arm, and a loud groan escaped him as he leaned his whole weight against the door. Belphie ran over to him when he saw the blood. “Whoa hang on, don’t move Solomon.” He pulled his shirt off, ripping it down the front, and began to wrap it tight around Solomon’s forearm. “You could’ve killed yourself yanking that knife out like that!” Belphie marveled at the human before him, while the move was reckless, he knew that was a lot more dangerous and painful than any normal human should be able to handle. The bleeding was still profuse, but it was slowing down. Solomon looked at Belphie, who was covered in blood himself, a large cut at the top of his head was pouring blood down his face and all across his arms and chest was small slice wounds. He wondered how fast he must have been to avoid getting stabbed so many times. The cuts were only surface wounds, but he knew it was only because he had dodged attacks properly.

“Belphie, that wasn’t the last block, I don’t know where else they are.” He groaned as he pushed away from the door, walking around Belphie through the door. He froze when he stepped outside, as there were 6 demons standing looking down at the one on the ground, Solomon’s knife protruding from his abdomen.

“So, you’re the small magic boy we heard of.” One stepped forward, and Belphie ran out to get ahead of Solomon, but he sighed when he saw the group of them, groaning internally. He was tired, clearly, and probably was close to a concussion. Solomon was in worse shape, he didn’t have the stamina of Belphie, and he certainly lost too much blood rendering one of his arms practically useless. But they stood only a few feet away, staring at them in amusement. “Oh, and the weakest brother too, wow. This should be fun.” He laughed as he began to walk forward toward the two.

“Oi! You stupid prick! He’s not weak, and he’s not alone!” Solomon turned to see Mammon and Asmo running toward the group. Mammon jumping on the one who was stepping forward, tackling him to the ground and punching him as hard as he could repeatedly. Belphie then charged at another of the demons, dodging an attack from the right, aiming his fists at the demon’s stomach, forcing him to double over. Asmodeus was running at an attacker who turned to swing on him, and Asmo got low, sliding across the ground, then jumping up on the other side of the demon’s arm, jabbing quick punches at his rib then swung a kick at the back of the demon’s legs, who crashed to the ground.

It turned into an all-out brawl, and Solomon stood at the door frame, weak and without his magic. It was only a matter of time before one of the demons charged at him and he would be useless to stop it. He glanced around at the property and he watched Satan and Beel running from the house toward the group fighting. He glanced to the left of the property and just at the edge of his line of sight was a brick well. It was at the perimeter of the property just like the houses, it had to have a block in it. This was his only chance. He took off in the other direction, holding his arm running.

One of the rebel demons saw Solomon run off and began charging after him. Solomon turned to see the demon’s pace was so fast he’d almost already caught up to him. He turned back to pay attention to where he was running, trying to pick up his speed in desperation. Feeling the closeness of the demon, he braced himself. The impact of the demon tackling him to the ground was hard, forcing the air from his lungs briefly. He tried to roll as he landed to keep his arm from hitting the ground, but he landed almost directly on his arm, letting out a scream that resembled a howl. Rolling slightly to the side he protected his bloody arm as the demon who tackled him took position to lay into Solomon with his fists. He felt lucky for a moment this one did not have a knife; he’d lost enough blood.

Luckily, the demon wailing on Solomon was distracted enough to not notice that Satan had changed direction, running toward the two of them. The demon only noticed when Satan was almost on him already, he was running low in demon form and just before reaching them, he lowered his head to allow his horns the initial impact. He rammed head and horn first into the demon’s side with a fury, Solomon could clearly hear a crack of its ribs as he toppled to the ground just next to him, Satan showering him with fists. 

“Go Solomon, you can do this!” Satan shouted.

Scrambling to his feet, he was only a few steps from the well now. Still, he reached the well out of breath and panting but sure enough he found the largest of all the stones, it was larger than his entire fist. He looked around and realized his knife was stuck back in the demon by the small houses. Kneeling down to the ground he dragged his fingers into the dirt so hard and fast he winced. It felt like his fingernail could come right out with all the pressure he put into drawing the circle, he winced through it but did not stop. Finally, he was finished, he dropped the large stone into the circle with a clunk as it hit the hard ground. He sighed and could feel the magic coursing as he called out to it.

With a simple incantation his arm was back to normal, the wound closed up within the span of a breath and he could move his arm freely again. The blood loss couldn’t be fixed, so he was still a little unsteady but at least he had back up nearby. He looked over to see if the brothers needed his assistance now that he could use his magic, but he watched as Beel threw a demon headfirst into the side of the house, he winced and turned away as he heard the crack. They definitely had it handled.


	26. Flashback pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Small mention of trauma, not explicit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where I had to weave in the most intricate part of the story. I really hope its received well!

Barbatos approached the front lawn area of the property, looking around he could see bodies scattered across the grounds. He had done a full circle around the estate in the woods prior to approaching the hold to ensure there was no surprises. He approached from the opposite side the brothers had approached, he could see abandoned houses in the distance and the projected path they took from those buildings to get inside the hold. He noted the large house, and assumed it was the place they’d be hiding her, but if that were the case, he would have seen her by now. He began to walk across the ground, and he began to feel dizzy. His head felt like it would split open, and blinding colors were flashing through his head. He had to drop to his knees to keep himself from crashing to the ground. Flashbacks began playing in his head like visions of the past.

“You can still become powerful Bathym, you understand magic better than almost any demon.” Barbatos was sitting at a table, in a casual button up and slacks like he used to dress when he was a young demon. He was speaking to a man who resembled him slightly, with long black hair that was emerald green at the tips, in jeans and a white t-shirt. He nodded, agreeing, and explaining some of his new spells he was working on. They spoke casually and amicably, drinking tea and discussing their projects.

The room shifted to them in a park, they were in casual clothes chatting again, Barbatos was teasing Bathym about some girl he had met. It was an array of shoulder punches and jokes before they parted ways. Bathym turned and looked over his shoulder at Barbatos before finally walking away.

The park transformed into a pub, where Barbatos and Bathym argued about living together. Bathym complained about his mood swings and his extreme need for privacy. Barbatos complained about the constant mess saying if they got rats, he would never forgive him. Things got heated and they decided to move out and get their own places, and instead of relief they both only felt bitter. The anger was strong, the frustration coursing through them both and it was a crushing blow that they walked away from each other.

He shook his head, Bathym was the one the incubus mentioned, and the flashbacks were coming in a similar fashion to how they did when he mentioned him. He didn’t recognize these memories, when had he met the man? Why were they so close and Barbatos could not remember anything? From the looks of it his memories were being restored, as if he suffered an injury and they were rushing back to him. 

“Wanna hear something cool? I came up with a block to control things and people so you can not alter their timeline! I could probably apply it to anything” He smiled wide at Barbatos who looked hurt and was sporting angry eyes. “Oh no, don’t worry it won’t hurt you. You’re my brother Barb, I’m just trying to keep you safe and help you control yourself!”  
“You’ve overstepped your bounds Bat, family or not.” Barbatos turned to spin away from him. “I didn’t ask for this kind of help.”  
“But you told me to expand my magic!”  
“I did not tell you to target me with your magic, I did not expect to be such a threat to you that you came up with a counter spell for my powers!”  
“Barb.”  
“Enough.”  
Barbatos walked away from him and could feel the pain radiating from his brother.

Barbatos was on the ground with his hand over his chest, feeling the pain as if the conversation had just happened, as if the brother he didn’t know he had had just broken his heart. He couldn’t breathe properly, was this really happening right now? Why? He couldn’t remember the last time he had such an emotional response, but it felt like years of turmoil were catching up to him.

“Barbatos let me help you!” “You have to kill your previous self.” Diavolo’s words rang through his head.  
“When this is over, you have to control yourself.”

The image of him killing his previous self-drowned the view, then fading to black. The black view opened up with a pin hole of light, stretching wider and wider, and thousands of memories of Barbatos and Bathym played on repeat as the view widened. Bathym seeing Barbatos from afar working for the Prince of hell, anger distorting his face. Bathym fighting in the war with his battalion. Bathym arguing with his general, who told him to obey orders and bow to the fallen angels as equals. Bathym and the battalion fighting their generals, Diavolo exiling the entire 26th Battalion.

Barbatos stood up shakily, gasping. “When I reset the timeline, I used a timeline where I had a brother?” He could barely catch his breath, he tried to calculate how long he’d been without this information, it all happened so long ago. He had a brother, that existed, that he created hundreds of years ago?! He was in pure shock when Solomon spotted him and made his way across the lawn.

The visions and flashbacks had stopped but for some reason he could feel his brother, and the sounds of the memories still played like a soundtrack in his head. He stepped slowly, walking towards Solomon, trying to compose himself, listening to Bathym discuss different types of bread with Barbatos. He almost laughed like he remembered the conversation. He was shaky, and confused, but he was hopeful. As he got closer to Solomon the voices started to fade, and the immense feeling of the memories returning felt like it had gone on pause. He stopped and turned around looking around the area, there wasn’t a single demon nearby, how was this happening and now stopping as he walked?

“Barbatos? Did you see something?” He asked curiously looking around where Barbatos had been looking. “I just removed the magic blocks, be on guard.” Solomon finally reached him and looked concerned as he looked over the butler.

“Solomon, something very strange is happening…”

~~~

Lucifer searched among the cluster of abandoned buildings, there was not much in the way of walls left, it was reduced to cement floors and half broken structures. There were not many places to hide a person among the structures. His blood pressure was spiking, he tried to focus himself and remember his frustration would do no good here. He had to think logically, he hadn’t been able to focus since she was missing and now was his only chance to get her back. Diavolo had joined him not long after he’d been searching the ruined houses, he was thankful to have him by his side. They moved mostly in silence, waiting for an ambush of some sort, but Diavolo had filled Lucifer in on the scene he saw in the back of the house before he came to find Lucifer. Lucifer vowed he would take care of Solomon and Belphie later. The two of them were unsure how severe their wounds were since Diavolo hadn’t seen the attacks, but they assumed they needed some serious medical attention when it was all over.

Some of the buildings still had viable flooring, some were being overgrown by grass and weeds. He glanced around looking for any sign of an entrance. Diavolo had confirmed they needed to find an entrance to the tunnels, that she would be found in there somewhere. It was gnawing at Lucifer, the idea of her hidden in a tunnel, hurt and scared. 

And then, he could breathe again, the magic was back. His eyes felt like they were burning, and he laughed loudly, commanding a gust of air to come from underground. Sure enough, in the house next to the one they were in, floorboards went flying into the air. Diavolo and Lucifer ran toward the house excitement coursing through their veins. Lucifer tried to track Jo using magic, but she must still have the blocks on her, as he received a reverberating response to his probing. He sighed, standing over the tunnel entrance.

“I guess we have to do this the old-fashioned way. Let’s go.” His voice was perky, the situation was severe still, but Diavolo couldn’t help but hear the hope in Lucifers voice, giving him the same sense of hope. As he entered the dark tunnel entrance the memory of the first day, he met Jo rang through his head.

And here she was, the second human for the exchange. What a poor innocent soul, Lucifer thought. She stood firm in her place, and if not for her bewildered eyes he would consider her strong. Instead, her defensive stance and her nervous amber eyes revealed a more foolish nature, feigning courage. He internally scoffed at her as she listened to Diavolo talking about RAD, but he also found himself studying her harder, imagining the strength she could grow into by being in the Devildom for a year.

“Why am I here?”

Crossing his arms Lucifer stated, “I will explain everything to you.” 

He retorted back to Diavolo who seemed to be buttering him up, though it indeed worked, he would deny it furiously. He smiled back at Josephine and gave her a warm welcome, proceeding to explain concisely the exchange program and what was expected of her. Watching her facial expressions change as he spoke was the first moment, he felt intrigue. Initially the concern on her face reached right into his chest and slightly tugged on his heart. But it was easy to write off as pity initially. She wore her heart on her sleeve, mostly her face, her stance was still firm and confident, but her face screamed back at him silently as he watched a large range of emotions cross her mind. He couldn’t resist the chuckle that escaped his lips when she reacted to having schoolwork. 

“It’s not like I will abandon you alone here in the Devildom.”

Those words were bouncing around in his head like a pinball machine. It practically made him nauseous to think of his short comings that led them to the disaster they were facing. While he had passed the responsibility of caring for her off to Mammon initially, it didn’t change the progression of his care and admiration for her that has done nothing but grow like weeds. The bewildered but stubborn girl who had stood before him that day became the most incredible woman he’d ever met. And he had let her down tremendously.

The tears were streaming down his race as he ran through the tunnels, there was no stopping it at this point. Even if he were to find her and save her now, the extreme trauma that would reside in her would be his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love angsty Lucifer cuz you know deep down he thinks he's responsible for everything anyway..
> 
> (It was fun to look back at lesson 1 while writing this)


	27. Cornered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mention of death and violence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kinda short, stay with me though :) we're so close.
> 
> ALSOOO, I am posting my digital drawing of Bathym on my Tumblr! Please go check it out if you've been reading the story, Josephine is next! (I've considered also Xalran, but we will see, he's less important..)
> 
> Tumblr: Thyme-writes

Bathym was pacing around the dark bunker huffing and gritting his teeth. This was the first time Josephine had seen him in demon form. His emerald green horns pushed through his previously smoothed back hairline, forcing out pieces of frayed hair to hang on his face. The two braids that hung on either shoulder were now cascading through the air as if they were tentacles. His outfit was akin to a soldier or old military outfit aside from the jacket hanging open with nothing under it. Behind him was a serpent like tail that was split almost as the base, similar to how his braids hung. Josephine could feel his panic and his anger radiating from him in waves. While he had never laid his hands on her, she still felt hesitation trying to get his attention and talk him down, but she had to try.

“Bathym, I promise if you turn me over, I will do everything to make sure they give you mercy.” He whipped around to look at her with a scowl. “Please just listen,” She whimpered slightly, which made his facial expressions loosen slightly. “They’re only here for me, and they will kill you if a fight ensues and you know that. Hiding down here is just prolonging it, and plus -”

“No, you listen to me Josephine,” He cut her off and raised his hand to stop her. “My life matters very little to me at this point. I may run with the outcasts of the Devildom, but not all of them deserve the treatment they’ve endured over hundreds and hundreds of years. You think I’m prolonging my death? That’s what exile is, it’s a prolonged state of poverty and degradation that makes you wish you’d be dead already. You wait for the day you can simply disappear.” 

He was approached Josephine and crouched looking deep into her eyes as he spoke quietly. “My life has never mattered to them, and never will. If you think your pleading will spare me then you are too innocent for this realm. Don’t misunderstand, I also don’t believe you deserved the treatment you’ve had either, but that matters very little now as well. Just know that I am a man of dedication, so I will use your life to bargain the lives of my followers and if that doesn’t work then you and I will both die by my own device, they will regret this one way or another.”

She was stunned, gulping audibly she nodded to him and he stood turning away from her. He had been so gentle with her previously that she was in awe at the different personality he was exuding today. It was hard to understand or rationalize where his mindset was, but she was sure now that letting her go and surrendering was no where in the plans for him no matter what she said. There was no use trying to escape, her hands and feet were tied again when she woke up in the bunker after she was found sneaking through the house. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. If she were going to die by his hand before she could be rescued, she decided it would be best to be asleep for it. She had experienced enough pain with her eyes open, the last pain of life could be peaceful. She hoped to see the brothers in her dreams one last time.

Before she let herself drift off, she spoke quietly. “I wish you’d gotten a better chance at life Bathym.”

Bathym looked over his shoulder, her head against the concrete wall and her eyes closed. On her face was a calmness and serenity he’d never seen on her. She spoke so softly he barely made out what she said, he could feel his head turn just slightly to the side as he stared at her curiously. What in the world could give this girl the courage and compassion to say something like that to him? 

Me too, he thought.

~~~

Solomon was confused, and worried for Barbatos, but he couldn’t say he didn’t understand. For someone to have a power like altering timelines, he recognized how many subtle differences could be in each timeline. He quickly realized that since the memories were flooding back to him, he must be close to his brother. They began walking the grounds again where Barbatos said the flashbacks began. Watching Barbatos from the corner of his eyes, Solomon couldn’t help but feel concern. The turmoil of emotions going through him was shaping Barbatos in a light he’d never seen him before.

“Barbatos, I need to know that you recognize this isn’t a mission to reconnect, you know he’s the one who orchestrated the whole thing?” Solomon spoke softly, to not rouse any anger from him.

“I am fully aware Solomon; I am not a fool.” It came out practically like a bark, and Solomon snapped his lips shut, recognizing his input was not quite needed here.

“There!” Barbatos practically shouted. There was a clear ring on the ground behind a large rock and Solomon probed at it with his magic but felt a block again. Barbatos was running to the circle, and in a second he was on his knees trying to find a grip to pull at a trap door beneath the ground.

“Wait, there’s a block in there Barb. We need to be careful!” Solomon was next to him on the ground just as he pulled at the trap door, pushing it back down to look in Barbatos’ eyes. He looked far away, and Solomon sighed. “Please, keep a level head here. He probably has her hostage down there and is prepared. He is dangerous.”

“Solomon, it’s my brother!” He pulled back at the door, Solomon holding it flush on the ground. Barbatos growled low. “You and I have absolutely no idea how he got this desperate and depraved. I have to get in there!” He pulled back with immense force, pushing Solomon back and was inside the entrance before Solomon could get back up.

~~~

The twists and turns of the underground tunnels were starting to get on the nerves of both Lucifer and Diavolo. After being turned around 3 times, back to the entrance where they came in, they began marking the walls to keep track of the turns and forks they’d already gone through. Diavolo was floating an orb of light before them to illuminate the pitch-black path of dirt floors and concrete. The air was heavy with an earthy scent, and both of them were studying the scents in the air to their best ability to try and get a whiff of Josephine. It was unfortunate the tunnels had been used frequent enough to have a scent of dozens of different demons. Based on the dead ends that appeared to be under construction, they were realizing the demons were consistently expanding these tunnels, and it was dangerous to think how far and long they could be.

Diavolo was tempted to admit to Lucifer they were not equipped to search these winding tunnels when his orb went out. They both froze, Diavolo trying to summon it back and he smiled.

“There’s another block-” He whispered.

“We must be close.” Lucifer whispered back, crouching low to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Sorry this one's angsty too LOL)
> 
> TY for reading <3


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